Illinois’ gymnastics is about to have its eyes opened to the powerful performances of the NIU women’s gymnastic team.

In one of the most crucial meets of the year, NIU hosts the State of Illinois Classic Meet Saturday at Chick Evans Field House. Beginning at 1 p.m., University of Illinois-Chicago, Illinois State and University of Illinois will battle it out with the undefeated Huskies (11-0).

On paper, NIU is clearly the favorite. The Huskies were ranked 10th in the country last week and third in the Central Region listings.

“The women are very excited about the ranking,” head coach Bobbie Cesarek said. “It’s a great feeling for us. It makes the gymnasts feel recognized and the feeling of recognition makes them want to work that much harder. We’re in the Top-10, and we don’t want to lose it.”

At 5-4, UIC is as close as it gets to the standard set by NIU. But regardless of records, excitement is running high among the NIU gymnasts who have been training hard all week for the Illinois Classic. The meet has not been hosted by NIU in four years.

“It is extremely exciting to have the meet on campus, especially this year,” Cesarek said. “Since we are undefeated, we’ll be trying hard to maintain that, and to do it at home makes it that much more exciting.”

The “game plan” is simple. Rather than spend time analyzing competition, Cesarek believes concentrating exclusively on NIU’s performances and routines is the key to success.

“I think with the meet happening so fast, having four events going on at once between four teams, we won’t have a chance to worry about the other teams,” Cesarek said. “Our major competition will be U of I, but we’ll only be focusing on our own team.”

Besides getting routines worked out and overcoming late-season soreness, Cesarek sees the home crowd as a major influence in NIU’s performance.

“Crowd support will be a big factor,” Cesarek said. “It should be for the fans as well as the gymnasts, since it brings together the best teams from the state.”