March 7, 2007

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AUBURN -

The No. 16 Auburn gymnastics team (4-6, 1-5 SEC) will it the road for a pair of out of conference road matches as it takes on its ninth ranked opponent of the season, No. 20 Illinois (6-5, 3-1 Big Ten) at 7 p.m. CT on Friday at Huff Auditorium.  The Tigers will then travel to Chicago to take on Illinois-Chicago (6-9) on Sunday at 2 p.m. 

AU is coming off a loss to No. 12 Arkansas, 195.400-196.325 last Friday at home, and is in the midst of a five meet losing streak after starting the year with a 4-1 record.  Their loss to Arkansas on March 2 marked the fourth meet in five weeks in which the Tigers' opponent has scored a season high with their team total.

The Tigers lead the all-time series with the Illini, 4-3, while they lead the Flames, 5-1 all-time.

"It's never easy to go on the road, especially when it is out of conference," head coach Jeff Thompson said.  "Hopefully our girls will relax in a couple of smaller venues, and be able to post two solid performances."

Auburn is ranked ranked sixth on beam with an RQS of 48.960, 13th on vault (49.096), 16th on bars (48.890), and 20th on floor (48.810).

Julie Dwyer is tied for sixth nationally in the all around with an RQS score of 39.335, while A.J. Mills is tied for 11th with a 9.865 RQS score.  Dwyer is also tied for fifth on beam with an RQS of 9.885.

This season, Dwyer has notched three career-highs and a new school record.  She already has 14 individual titles-- three all-around titles, five beam wins, three on vault, two bar victories and one on floor.  For her career, the Bloomington, Ind., native has 51 titles, including 16 all arounds, 17 on beam, 10 on vault, four on floor and four on bars.

The Fighting Illini women's gymnastics team scored a 194.675 in a tri-meet victory over Illinois State and UW-Lacrosse last Sunday at Horton Fieldhouse in Normal, Ill. Sophomore Julie Crall, freshmen Nicole Cowart and Sarah Schmidt each won two individual titles as Illinois swept all-four events and the all-around.  UI is tied for 17th on beam (48.725) and is 21st on bars (48.710).

The Flames posted a 191.950 to defeat the Ladies (190.475) and pick up their third consecutive victory.  Annie Kachman's all-around victory and a sweep of the individual event titles lifted the UIC women's gymnastics team to its second consecutive victory over Midwest Independent rival Centenary at the Gold Dome last Sunday.  UIC is tied for 25th in the country on bars with an RQS of 48.590.