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Senior Daniel Ribeiro won his second straight gold medal on pommel horse.
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Feb. 6, 2011
LAS VEGAS - Illinois senior Daniel Ribeiro claimed his second straight gold medal on pommel horse and junior Tyler Mizoguchi was named to the U.S. Men's Senior National team for the second time in his career to highlight the final day of action at the 2011 Winter Cup Challenge late Saturday night in Las Vegas.
The seven members of the 2010 World Championships Team, which includes senior Paul Ruggeri, who was an alternate, retained their spots on the national team. Based on performances, four gymnasts were selected to the U.S. Men's Senior National Team using the National Team Point Program, while three additional athletes were selected by the Men's Program Committee, including Mizoguchi, who finished in seventh place with 26 points. Jacob Dalton of the University of Oklahoma was the top finisher with 92 points. All-around and individual event champions were determined by a two-day combined score.
Ribeiro, who also took gold at the 2010 USA Visa Championships this past August, retained his pommel horse title with a two-day combined score of 31.400, and also added an eighth-place finish on floor exercise (29.450). Mizoguchi placed ninth in the all-around with a two-day combined score of 166.800 and also secured a pair of top-five finishes including third on parallel bars (30.150) and fourth on floor (29.800).
Also competing for the Illini was current assistant coach Luke Stannard, who took third on pommel horse (28.900), 11th on high bar (27.750) and 12th on floor (28.950), while freshman Jordan Valdez placed fifth on high bar (28.600) and 19th in the all-around (159.500), and redshirt senior Chad Wiest finished eighth on parallel bars (28.900) and 16th on floor (28.500) and vault (29.850). Ruggeri placed 12th on vault (30.300), but an ankle injury prevented him from participating in the remainder of the competition.
The 15-member U.S. Men's Senior National team, which also includes Chris Brooks, Chris Cameron, Jake Dalton, Joshua Dixon, Andrew Elkind, Jonathan Horton, Glen Ishino, Steven Legendre, Danell Leyva, CJ Maestas, Alex Naddour, Jesse Silverstein, Brandon Wynn, will represent the U.S. through the 2011 Visa Championships in St. Paul, Minn., Aug. 17-20.
