April 14, 2007

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.  - Juniors Wes Haagensen, Chris Silcox and Tyler Yamauchi and freshman Chad Wiest assured Illinois that it would not walk away empty handed from the final day of the 2007 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships hosted by Penn State University. During the individual event finals, the four Illini gymnasts collected a total of five All-American honors between them, extending Illinois' streak to eight years running with an Orange and Blue gymnast taking home a national honor.

"I couldn't be anymore proud of this group of young men," head coach Yoshi Hayasaki said. "They had a great meet this weekend and did a great job overall. It was terrific for Chad and Chris to both earn their first All-American honors tonight; while I thought Wes and Tyler did a great job as well. Of course they all would have liked to take home the title, but I think they did their best, and that is all you can ask from them."

Haagensen brought his final total of All-America accolades to three during the 2007 edition of the NCAAs, and career total to six, taking home a fifth-place finish on floor with a 9.525, while finishing sixth on high bar with a 9.150. His two laurels during the fourth and final session of the championships adds to his tied for second-place finish in the all-around the night before, helping him match his All-America total of three in a season that he set in 2006 (parallel bars, all-around, floor exercise). The Belleville, Ill., native adds his first national honor on high bar, while his fifth-place outing on floor tied his career-best finish in the event that he set last year. Haagensen's tied for second-place outing last night in the all-around finals also marks his highest finish in the event, and at nationals on any apparatus, besting his fourth-place all-around finish in 2006.

Silcox was the second Illini to earn his first All-America accolade as he charted a 9.200 on high bar to take home a fifth-place finish. Silcox just missed the honor on floor with a ninth-place finish (8.575). The former 2004 US National high bar champion also earned his best finish of his career at NCAAs, his second best overall, with his highest a third-place outing on high bar at the 2007 Big Ten Championships. This is the second time in the San Antonio, Texas, native's career he has advanced to the individual event finals at NCAAs, accomplishing the feat first on vault in 2005, where he finished ninth.  

Wiest's performance, a native of Butler, Pa., extended the Illini streak to three consecutive seasons, five out of the last six,  that a freshman has earned their first All-American honors with his tied for third-place finish on floor. Wiest followed in the footsteps of Peter Shostchuk, who first did it in 2002, followed by Justin Spring in 2003, Yamauchi in 2005 and most recently current sophomore Chris Lung in 2006. It is the first time during that streak of three years that a freshman has posted the Illini's best finish at the individual finals.

"I don't know really what to say, it is just awesome to do this as a freshman and at my first NCAA Championships," Wiest said about his performance. "Overall, I am just excited to have had the chance to compete for national title."

Rounding out the Illini competitors, co-captain Yamauchi collected his 2007 All-America honor on floor, bringing his total to three career honors, finishing tied for seventh with a 9.425 to make it three straight seasons he has earned the national honor. This season marks his first national recognition outside of still rings, where he took All-America honors in both 2005 and 2006. Yamauchi is looking to become only the third Illinois gymnast to earn All-America honors all four years of his career, as he enters next season looking to add his name to a prestigious list that includes 12-time All-American and four-time national champion Spring and four-time All-American Shostchuk.

Taking home individual championships during the event finals were Jonathan Horton of Oklahoma on floor (9.650) and high bar (9.675), Tim McNeill of California on pommel horse (9.650) and parallel bars (9.725), Alex Schorsch of Stanford on rings (9.750) and both David Sender of Stanford and Pejman Ebrahimi of Ohio State on vault (9.300). This is the first year since 2003 that an Illini gymnast has not raised an individual national title.

The above recap wraps up this year's edition of the 2007 NCAA Championships hosted by Penn State at Rec Hall on April 12-14, as well as the 2006-07 Illinois men's gymnastics season.

FLOOR EXERCISE RECAP

Chad Wiest embarked on his first individual national title mission as Illinois' first competitor of the night and on floor exercise. During his set, Wiest suffered a few minor hiccups to prevent scoring or tying his career high, but still high enough to assure him an All-American finish as he tabbed a 9.525 Following Wiest's performance, ranked second on the event, Oklahoma's Jonathan Horton posted the score to beat, as he registered a 9.650, the eventual title-winning score.

Wes Haagensen stepped up to floor next and was looking to build off his strong tied for second-place finish in the all-around last night during the team finals. Almost flawless through two passes, the Belleville, Ill., native fell short of his best night of the year, scoring a 9.475.

Tyler Yamauchi and Chris Silcox would round out the competition for the Fighting Illini on the event. Yamauchi, a native of Sugarland, Texas, strung together another solid performance to end the 2007 campaign, posting a 9.425, while Silcox fell just outside of All-America honors (ninth) after charting an 8.575 as the last competitor on the apparatus for the night.

Wiest earned his first career All-America honor with a tied for third-place finish along side Russell Czeschin of Oklahoma, Haagensen notched his fifth All-American accolade of his career, second of the championships, with his fifth-place finish, while Yamauchi earned his third overall honor with his tied for seventh-place finish with Nick Virbitsky of Penn State.

FLOOR EXERCISE FINAL STANDINGS

1. *# Jonathan Horton (OKLA) - 9.650
2. * Adam Reichow ( MINN) - 9.550

* Chad Wiest (ILL) - 9.525

4. * Russell Czeschin (OKLA) - 9.525
5. * Wes Haagensen (ILL) - 9.475
6. * Cole Storer (MINN) - 9.450
7. * Tyler Yamauchi (ILL) - 9.425

* Nick Virbitsky (ILL) - 9.425

9. Chris Silcox (ILL) - 8.575
10. Chris Brooks (OKLA) - 8.300

HIGH BAR RECAP

Chris Silcox, looking to notch his first All-America honor of his career after falling short on floor, didn't bring anything less that his best to high bar. Silcox proceeded to connect on a near flawless high bar set before setting up for his final dismount of 2007. With Illinois' faithful cheering him on, Silcox drew a uproar from the entire crowd of over 2,000 fans at Rec Hall as he stuck the landing to record a 9.200 to seal his first All-American laurel.

Illinois' last competitor of the evening on high bar and of the championships, junior Wes Haagensen looked to add to his 2007 loot of honors with hopefully another top performance on high bar. From his first pass around the bar, Haagensen forced fans to hold their breath, as he masterfully moved from one skill to the other without skipping a beat. Looking at his last landing of the season, Haagensen seemingly needed only a near-stuck landing to perhaps grab the needed score to take the title. With a few too many steps on the landing, however, the Illini junior managed a 9.150 to finish sixth.

HIGH BAR FINAL STANDING

1. Jonathan Horton (OKLA) - 9.675
2. Tommy Ramos (PSU) - 9.375

Colin Christ (CAL) - 9.375

4.     Chris Brooks (OKLA) - 9.300

5. Chris Silcox (ILL) - 9.200
6. Wes Haagensen (ILL) - 9.150
7. Dylan Carney (STAN) - 9.050
8. Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons (OKLA) - 8.925
9. Sergei Dmitriev (MINN) - 8.575
10. Jake Bateman (OSU) - 8.050

VAULT RECAP

Chad Wiest, due to a miscalculation of tie-breaks a day earlier by tournament officials, fell just short of advancing to the individual championships on vault, leaving junior Tyler Yamauchi the only Orange and Blue competitor left in the field.

Holding the Illini torch high, nonetheless, Yamauchi looked to add one more title to his shelf this season, as he had already captured the 2007 Big Ten Vaulting title. However, the night would not belong to the UI junior, as he was unable to land one of the hardest vaults in the competition, a double front, scoring an 8.050 to finish 10th.

VAULT FINAL STANDINGS

1. *# David Sender (STAN) - 9.300

* Pejman Ebrahimi (OSU) - 9.300

3. * Jimmy Wickham (OSU) - 9.275
4. * Geoff Reins (IOWA) - 9.175
5. * Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons (OKLA) - 9.025
6. * Adam Reichow (MINN) - 8.975
7. * David Chan (MICH) - 8.950
8. * Jonathan Horton (OKLA) - 8.900
9. # Dylan Carney (STAN) - 8.700
10. Tyler Yamauchi (ILL) - 8.050

KEY:

* Earned All-America Honor

# Defending 2006 National Champion