The Iowa women’s gymnastics team fell to Illinois in Champaign, Ill., on Jan. 29, 194.775-193.475.

The GymHawks’ goal for the meet had been to eliminate the small mistakes that add up to losing points. However, the team didn’t manage to avoid the errors and ended up wasting a “great opportunity,” head coach Larissa Libby said in a release.

The Hawkeyes fell to Illinois in every event, but only by 0.2 points on the vault, 0.15 points on the uneven bars and floor exercise, and 0.025 points on the beam.

“We were hoping we were past the point of continually making mistakes,” Libby said. “But we beat ourselves, and that’s the worst feeling in the world.”

While some seniors’ scores dipped, the younger GymHawks stepped up. Sophomore Emma Stevenson placed second on bars with 9.8, and junior Annie Szatkowski placed sixth on vault with 9.725.

The GymHawks’ all-arounders scored well in some events, including all three — Gebeshian, Hansen, and Simbhudas — in a five-way tie for second on floor exercise with a score of 9.8. However, the Fighting Illini athletes took first, second, and third in all-around, while the GymHawks placed fourth, fifth, and sixth.

Now with a 3-3 overall record, 2-3 record in the Big Ten, the GymHawks will travel to compete against North Carolina State in Raleigh on Feb. 6.

— by Molly Irene Olmstead