April 18, 2008

NCAAs Day One: April 14  |  2008 Championships - Nissen-Emery Award Banquet  |  2008 NCAA Session II Qualifiers 

2008 NCAA Championships Session II Final Results in PDF Format

STANFORD, Calif. - The Fighting Illini join No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Penn State and No. 6 Michigan, who advanced from the morning session, and No. 1 Stanford (363.850) and No. 4 California (357.100), who advanced from the evening session, in the NCAA Team Finals Friday night, April 18, at 9 p.m. CT, 7 p.m. PT, at Maples Pavilion. Illinois has now advanced to the finals for the sixth straight year, becoming only the second school to accomplish that feat - the Sooners being the second - and is looking to extend its five straight top-five finishes in the championships with another outstanding performance tomorrow.

What was even more impressive than advancing into the Super Six was Illinois score in doing so. The season high for the Illini also was the second-highest score of the day in front of No. 2 Oklahoma (357.500) and No. 3 Penn State (357.300). During Illinois' streak of six straight finals appearances, they finished fifth twice (2003, 2007), third (2004) and second in both 2005 and 2006.

"We had just a great team effort tonight," head coach Yoshi Hayasaki said. "This is what we have been training for all season long. It just seemed that we came together tonight to produce our best meet of the season. We put up our highest score even with having some mishaps on floor and high bar. Overall, this was a great meet for us, but we know that we have more to do with the team finals tomorrow."

Illinois' triumph over some of the top teams in the country today was spurred by setting four season bests, including its overall team score that was two-points better than its previous high of a 357.300 - which they set two weeks ago at Big Ten Championships. The other bests included a 63.550 on vault to start off today's meet, a 58.600 on high bar and a 58.900 on pommel horse. It's mark of a 59.650 on rings and 59.050 on parallel bars were both the third-best tallies on those specific apparatus in 2008 to boot.

As a team, Illinois took the title on pommel horse (58.900) and p-bars (59.050), while placing second on floor exercise (59.550), vault (63.550) and high bar (58.600). Those finishes also ring true for the entire day, as the second session proved to be more competitive, posting the top scores for the day all-around.

The Fighting Illini, individually, had one of their best performances amidst some the best gymnasts in the country, with eight different Illini setting a total of 12 career-bests or tying one. On top of that, the Illini charted nine top-five finishes on the night. Those performances included a first-place finish by Daniel Ribeiro, who tied the highest score of the season by any gymnast on pommel horse of a 15.700. Other bests were freshman Roger Pasek on floor placing fourth (15.250), sophomore Luke Stannard tabbing third on pommel (15.050), senior Tyler Yamauchi with a tied for fourth-place honor on rings (15.550) and tied for third-place finish on vault (16.100), sophomore Brian Liscovitz taking fourth on parallel bars (15.000) and senior Wes Haagensen coming in second on high bar (15.050) followed by freshman Paul Ruggeri in a tie for third (14.900).

Illinois now returns to Maples Pavilion tomorrow night to compete for the 2008 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships at 9 p.m. CT, 7 p.m. PT, at which time the team and all-around titlist will be crowned. The top-10 placers on each of the six events from the team finals also will qualify for the NCAA Individual Event Finals, with those six titles being awarded on Saturday night, April 19, at 9 p.m. CT as well.

Live scoring for the event will be available at the official web site of the championships at www.gostanford.com, with a full recap of the event available on the official home of Illinois men's gymnastics at www.fightingillini.com.

The NCAA Championships also is another step for gymnasts looking to compete at the 2008 Olympics, as 12 athletes will be invited to Visa Championships this summer to try and vie for a spot on the U.S. Senior National Team, a 15-member squad from which the Olympic team is chosen from.

SESSION RECAP BY EVENT
Vault
Illinois could not have started out any better, as it got a 15.550 from Stannard in the first vault of the evening, while Pasek followed with a 15.500 to set the tone for the night. It would only get better from that with the vaults bringing the Illini faithful to their feet from the get-go when Haagensen nailed his vault to score a 15.900, a career high, before Ruggeri tacked on another stuck landing for a 16.000, just short of his career-high 16.050. It seemed sticking your landing became contagious just when the fans thought they had seen it all, as Yamauchi registered a team season-high for 2008 when he connected on his vault to card a 16.100 en route to Illinois setting a season and program-record 63.550 on vault this season. Yamauchi also finished tied for third overall, while Ruggeri tied for fifth and Haagensen picked up seventh-place laurels. The feat put Illinois in first-place after the first rotation, but in gymnastics scoring did not mean much since vault is one of the highest scoring events of the sport. Nonetheless, the Orange and Blue reined atop the standings after rotation one.

On another note, Illinois tied No. 1-ranked vault competitor Oklahoma for the second highest team score on the event for the entire day. Heading into the championships, the Fighting Illini were ranked fifth, however, as the Illini have shown in the past, rankings mean nothing when you put the scores to the test in competition.

Parallel Bars
After a strong performance on vault to kickoff the night, Illinois headed to parallel bars where sophomore Chris Lung started the lineup with a solid routine. Saavedra continued the Illini momentum when he posted a 14.400 before Ruggeri performed another outstanding routine - not reflecting his age as a freshman - when he tallied a 14.850 to finish sixth overall. The final gymnasts of the lineup, however, had more to give to the cause as Yamauchi tossed in a 14.700, and Haagensen contributed a 14.500. Picking up where he left off at Big Tens, Liscovitz then put forth the highest Illini score on parallel bars for the second straight team meet when he charted a 15.000 - good enough for a fourth-place finish overall. Illinois moved on to the next event, high bar, with a team score of 59.050 on p-bars, UI's third-highest score of the year. The two-event score of 122.600 also was good enough for Illinois to remain at the top of the standings for the second straight rotation, besting No. 1-rate Stanford (118.600).

High Bar
Having been around this team all season long, it was the next event that continued to prove to me that when Illinois is facing a challenge of winning a national title, they pull out all the stops. The Illini were almost unstoppable on high bar, as four out of the six competitors stuck their landings for a high-powered rotation for the Fighting Illini. Stannard started off the lineup with a low-score for the usual top performer, but Lung got the Illini on track with a 14.100 and the first stuck dismount. 2006 All-American on high bar, Ross Bradley, debuted his championships with a career-best 14.550 to continue the top performances, while Ruggeri proved why he is the No. 1-rated man on the apparatus when he posted a 14.900. Yet, Haagensen would show that there are two high bar specialists in the Illini arsenal, as he recorded the highest score for Illinois on the event of a 15.050. Haagensen and Ruggeri finished second and third, respectively, in the event overall.

For the third straight rotation, the Illini (181.200) found themselves at the top of the leader board, leading the top-rated Cardinal (180.500), with just three more rotations to go.

Floor Exercise
The Illini are no strangers to top performances on floor exercise, as it has been the bread and butter of Illinois gymnastics for the past six years. While the Illini have struggled on the event all season long due to injuries, however, today was a new day in the history books as freshman Daniel Ribeiro was first on floor. Stannard followed the freshman with a 14.900 for his floor routine, while Saavedra followed with a 14.600 of his own.

Then another freshman sensation for the Illini appeared in his first NCAA competition, as Pasek has come into his own on floor throughout the season, and came through again tonight. With his 15.250, he posted the Illini's top score of the night. Haagensen and Ruggeri rounded out the rotation for Illinois.

Now, Illinois (240.750) headed to its bye rotation after holding the lead for the fourth straight time, bettering then second-place Temple (226.500) by almost 15 team points, with top-rated Stanford falling out of the running for just a rotation, as they sat out during the fourth rotation for their turn at a bye.

Pommel Horse
What a change a year makes for Illinois, as the Illini would have called pommel horse their worst event in 2007, but enter this year's championships ranked No. 1 on the event behind the efforts of key underclassmen. Looking to now solidify its position in the top three as a team, Lung was the first on the horse, scoring a near career-best 14.350 to start things off. Pasek followed with a shaky routine, but was backed up by veteran and senior Bradley, who stepped in to post a career-best 13.800.

With the heart of the Illini lineup still to come, Liscovitz bounced back from a rough high bar routine to go a career-best 13.700 on pommel, followed Stannard, who collected his best score of his young career, a 15.050, to take third in the large field. Then, with the nation's No. 1 gymnast still waiting for his time to shine, Ribeiro again wowed his competitors and the crowd with his action-packed routine. The set did not disappoint anyone, including the judges, as he tabulated the highest score of the night and the day with his 15.700, tying his career-high.

The feat put Illinois securely in second-place after five rotations, trailing Stanford by less than a point in the overall standings.

Still Rings
In its final event of the evening, the Illini decided to only send four competitors to the still rings, trusting it had secured its fate into the Super Six after Minnesota was almost statistically out of the running as the fourth-place team and the only team in striking distance of a top-three finish.

With a watered-down lineup, Illinois ended on a high note, as Lung was awarded a season high 13.800, while junior Tyler Williamson followed with a season-high of his own, a 14.900. With two more competitors to go, senior Jon Drollinger stepped up to the challenge as he recorded a 15.400, just .100 off his career high, while Yamauchi put a stamp on the evening with his 15.550 to finish the competition. Yamauchi also finished tied for fourth on rings.

SESSION I FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
*Oklahoma 357.500
*Penn State 357.300
*Michigan 354.300
Ohio State 351.800
Nebraska 343.300
William & Mary 335.950

SESSION II FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
* Stanford 363.850
* Illinois 359.300
* California 357.100
Minnesota 349.150
Iowa 339.850
Temple 333.000

* Advanced to team finals on Friday, April 18 at 9 p.m. CT, 7 p.m. PT.

ILLINI TEAM RESULTS BY EVENT

SESSION II - Finished Second
Thursday, April 17, 9 p.m. CT, 7 p.m. PT

! Vault = (63.550)
!* Parallel Bars = (59.050)
! High Bar = (58.600)
Floor Exercise = (59.550)
!* Pommel Horse = (58.900)
Still Rings = (59.650)
!Team Total = (359.300)

KEY:
* Session I Team High
! Season High / School Record (Are synonymous since gymnastics moved to a new scoring system in 2008)

ILLINI INDIVIDUAL RESULTS BY EVENT

Vault
*&!(T3) Tyler Yamauchi (16.100)
*(T5) Paul Ruggeri (16.000)
*! Wes Haagensen (15.900)
* Luke Stannard (15.550)
Roger Pasek (15.500)
Andres Saavedra (15.450)

Parallel Bars
*%(4) Brian Liscovitz (15.000)
* Paul Ruggeri (14.850)
* Tyler Yamauchi (14.700)
* Wes Haagensen (14.500)
Andres Saavedra (14.400)
Chris Lung (13.800)

High Bar
*(2) Wes Haagensen (15.050)
*(3) Paul Ruggeri (14.900)
* Ross Bradley (14.550)
* Chris Lung (14.100)
Luke Stannard (13.200)
Brian Liscovitz (13.100)

Floor Exercise
*(4) Roger Pasek (15.250)
*% Luke Stannard (14.900)
* Daniel Ribeiro (14.800)
*! Andres Saavedra (14.600)
Wes Haagensen (14.350)
Paul Ruggeri (14.000)

Pommel Horse
*%&(1) Daniel Ribeiro (15.700)
*!(3) Luke Stannard (15.050)
* Chris Lung (14.350)
*! Ross Bradley (13.800)
Brian Liscovitz (13.700)
Roger Pasek (12.750)

Still Rings
*(T4) Tyler Yamauchi (15.550)
* Jon Drollinger (15.400)
*! Tyler Williamson (14.900)
*! Chris Lung (13.800)

KEY:
* Counted Toward Team Score
! Individual Season/Career High Score
& Team Season-High Score
% Tied Season/Career High
(-) Indicates Top-Five Finish on Event for Session II