Illini Insider

One to watch

Wrestling vs. Michigan

7 p.m. Friday at Huff Hall

If Mark Johnson's ninth-ranked Illini are to remain unbeaten at home this season, they'll need to hurdle a No. 17 Michigan team that's been on a roll. With their dominating 31-6 victory against No. 24 Penn State last Friday, the Wolverines (9-7-1) won for the fourth time in their last five dual meets. Michigan (4-1-1 Big Ten) has lost only to No. 6 Ohio State in conference duals.

Illinois (11-2, 4-2) is coming off a 26-13 road loss to the Buckeyes that snapped a four-match winning streak. The Illini are 4-0 at Huff Hall and have won 10 of their last 11 home dual meets dating back to their 2007 finale. Illinois will close its regular season at 1 p.m. Sunday against visiting Michigan State. The Spartans (6-8) take a 1-5 league record into their dual meet tonight at Purdue.

One matchup to keep a particular eye on Friday is at 184 pounds. Twelfth-ranked freshman Jordan Blanton of Illinois will square off against Wolverines sophomore Anthony Biondo, who's ranked 13th.

Michigan has the nation's top-ranked wrestler at 174, two-time Big Ten champion Steve Luke. Two Illini are ranked No. 2 in their weight divisions: Jimmy Kennedy at 133 and Mike Poeta at 157.

Illini fans who hung on to their ticket stub from Wednesday's men's basketball game against Penn State will be admitted free to both UI wrestling meets this weekend.

Illini of the Week

Women'S gymnastics team

No team in the history of Illini women's gymnastics scored more points than Bob Starkell's crew did Sunday at Huff Hall. Illinois racked up a 196.700 score to break a 5-year-old school record by 0.4 point.

Starkell wasn't surprised.

"Potentially, this group is going to be the strongest team I've ever had," the 10th-year Illini head coach said. "We've always had really good athletes, but from a depth standpoint, this was the team that potentially could break the school record."

It did so against an 18th-ranked Ohio State team that last year came into Huff Hall and beat Illinois. This time, the Illini swept the individual and all-around titles while breaking the school record for team points in the vault (49.225) for the second time in three days. Illinois also recorded the second-highest team score in school history in the uneven bars (49.25).

It's no coincidence, Starkell says, that the No. 14 Illini are putting up such scores at the same time they're getting key athletes fully healthy. All- American Allison Buckley, Melissa Fernandez and Sarah Schmidt each were hampered earlier in the season by injury.

"We're to the point where everyone is coming together at the right time," Starkell said. "For me as a coach, I was more impressed by our performances than looking at school records. I've been waiting for a meet where we had no major deductions, and we only had one routine with a slight deduction. That's been our main goal."

The goal now, Starkell says, is to take that same level of performance on the road. In four previous away meets this season – three of them multi-team competitions – Illinois has finished first once.

The Illini hit the road each of the next two weekends, starting with Saturday's visit to Seattle to face No. 9 Oregon State, No. 24 Washington and Eastern Michigan.

"It's good to do it at home, but let's follow it up on the road," Starkell said. "That's when you know you're going in the right direction."

The time is now

In most years, Illini coach Sue Novitsky would target the training – and tapering – of her top-tier swimmers toward the NCAA Championships. This year, the focus is on the Big Ten Championships, which began Wednesday in Ann Arbor, Mich., with two events. The meet continues through Saturday.

All Illini swimmers will be tapered for conference because qualifying for NCAAs has never been tougher in virtually all events. Novitsky still holds out hope that several swimmers on her freshman/sophomore-dominated roster will reach nationals, but the focus remains on this weekend.

"Everyone is gearing toward this meet," the UI coach said. "This is our big meet for the program. Hopefully, we'll get some people who could move on to the NCAA championship."

NCAA qualifying standards are reviewed each year and typically are adjusted in a few events. When times took a widespread tumble during the 2007-08 season, however, the qualifying times for this season were greatly impacted. No Illini has yet to qualify.

"The NCAA (time) standards dropped significantly," said Novitsky, in her ninth season as UI head coach and a 15-year veteran of college coaching. "This is the first time since I've been coaching in college that every (qualifying) time got faster significantly."

Illinois will be in fast company this week. Six Big Ten teams are ranked in the Top 25 poll, led by No. 10 and defending league champion Minnesota.

Illini freshman Britni Fisher is ranked ninth in the conference in platform diving and 12th in 3-meter diving. Fisher has qualified for the NCAA Zone Championships in diving next month.

UI senior Marissa Clapp, a Bismarck-Henning graduate, is ranked 11th in the Big Ten in the 200-yard breaststroke and 14th in the 400 individual medley.

"If she puts together a good, smart race, she definitely has the ability (to qualify for NCAAs)," Novitsky said. "She has the training behind her to get it done."

Riley on fast track

It's becoming more and more apparent that the Illini men's track and field team has a special talent in freshman Andrew Riley.

In late January, the Kingston, Jamaica, native became the ninth-fastest individual in UI history in the 60-meter hurdles. On Saturday, Riley soared to No. 2 on that career list by blazing to a 7.84-second clocking at the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa. The time was 0.02 second off the 9-year-old school record held by Sherman Armstrong, the 1999 Big Ten Outdoor Athlete of the Year.

"Sherman did that as a junior," Illini coach Wayne Angel said, "and this kid is still a freshman and learning the event."

Angel sensed Riley might be poised for a career performance after a strong week of workouts. Then, Riley ran a career-best 7.97 in the preliminaries, becoming the fifth Illini in history to run a sub-8-second time in the event.

Afterward, a confident Riley told Angel he could beat Kentucky's Mikel Thomas, a 2008 Olympian from Trinidad and Tobago, in the finals. As it turned out, the Wildcats senior won that race while Riley placed fourth. However, the Illini rookie finished one spot ahead of Purdue's Josh HembrougH, the Big Ten's defending champion in the 60 hurdles and 110 hurdles.

"He was in some rarefied air," said Angel, referring to a 60 hurdles field that also included Nebraska's Lehann Fourie, who holds the South African junior record in the 110 hurdles.

In the same meet, Riley ran a personal-best 6.85 in the 60 meters. All this from a guy who had never run indoor track before arriving at the UI.

"He's going to make coaching fun," Angel said. "He's just doing a heck of a job."

The versatile Riley will concentrate on another of his events, high jump, this weekend at the EIU Friday Night Special meet in Charleston. He shares the team lead in that event at 6 feet, 8 inches.

Famer at the Hall

Before Matt Lackey was a three-time All- American and 2003 NCAA champion, the former Illini wrestler was a two-time IHSA state champion.

Last fall, the Moline native was recognized for those high school feats by being voted into the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association Hall of Fame. On Friday, Lackey and other Class of 2009 Hall of Famers will be introduced to the Assembly Hall crowd during the IHSA state meet.

"It was pretty much of a surprise," Lackey said of his selection. "When something like this comes along, it kind of gives you a sense of reflection. Most of my career, I've been getting ready for a tournament. Now I can sit back and take pride in what I've accomplished, and you don't always get to do that when you're in the middle of it."

When asked to reflect on his favorite moment at a state tournament, Lackey didn't pick his state titles in 1997 or 1998. Instead, he said one memory from his freshman season, when he placed third at 119 pounds, was "hands down" his most memorable feat at state. It occurred in the quarterfinals, where Lackey stunned highly seeded Milton Blakely of Chicago Mount Carmel 13-7. Blakely entered the match 24-2.

"It was such a surreal moment," Lackey said. "I was in that zone – I forgot about my surroundings."

His older brother, Steve, was matside and the first to greet Lackey after the match. With tears in his eyes, Steve motioned for his kid brother to look up into the stands.

"I looked around and realized everyone was on their feet for me," Lackey said. "Having Steve there – he was crying – it was a special moment."

David lands WIU post

Melissa David is heading to Western Illinois after two seasons as a volunteer assistant with the Illini volleyball coaching staff.

The 2003 Champaign Central graduate begins work March 2 as the sole full-time assistant to Westerwinds coach Kym McKay. The WIU staff also includes a graduate assistant.

"I'm very excited because I know I can make an impact, and I'm just ready to get my hands dirty doing what I've learned to do and what I love to do," David said.

The former Wisconsin-Milwaukee outside hitter said she also was offered an assistant's position by Eastern Illinois. David said she opted for WIU because of the many and varied areas of responsibility she'll have.

"With (only) two paid full-time staff members, I'll be able to get to do everything from recruiting to everything in the gym to scouting to video exchange to administration," she said. "I'll be able to experience everything."

The Westerwinds were 9-22 last season with a 13-player roster that included six freshmen.

Softball commitment

The Illini softball team received an oral commitment from Jami Schkade, a sophomore second baseman at Albany (Texas) High.

Schkade played her freshman season at Klein Oak High in Spring, Texas, hitting .267 for a 25-2 Panthers team that advanced to the Texas Class 5-A quarterfinals. She drove in 14 runs in 45 at-bats and compiled a .422 slugging percentage.

Schkade also helped her travel team, Impact Gold of Spring, Texas, place ninth in the 2008 American Softball Association 18-and-under Gold National Championships in Oklahoma City.

The list
Gymnast Marijka Botterman set a school record in the vault (9.950) on Sunday during a dual meet against Ohio State at Huff Hall. The senior shared the previous mark of 9.925. The all-time top nine UI performances in the event:

NAME    SCORE    OPPONENT(S)    YEAR

M. Botterman    9.950    Ohio State    2009

M. Botterman     9.925     Chicago Style Invite    2009

Jessica Cole    9.925     State of Illinois Classic    2003

Nicole Viernes    9.925    Florida & Iowa State    1996

M. Botterman     9.900    Iowa      2009

Allison Buckley     9.900    Illinois-Chicago    2008

Allison Buckley     9.900    Denver    2008

M. Botterman     9.900    Auburn    2007

Carissa Ericson     9.900    Iowa    2001

The number

130

Years of varsity baseball at the University of Illinois, a tradition that began in 1879 and has continued annually with the exception of 1882. Season No. 130 starts Friday against Iowa in the Big East/Big Ten Challenge in Florida.

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