March 12, 2008

Illinois vs. UIC Notes in PDF Format

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The No. 6 Illinois men's gymnastics team is ready to travel north and take on in-state foe No. 14 Illinois-Chicago this Saturday, March 15, for a 5 p.m. coed meet with the Illinois women's gymnastics team also taking on the UIC women at the UIC Physical Education Building in Chicago. Illinois is coming off an impressive season-high 357.150 performance to take down No. 5 Michigan for the first time since 1998 in the regular season in its last dual, while UIC enters the contest having won its last three straight duals, including back-to-back victories over Air Force in its last outings.

"From here on out, all of our competitions will be a tune up for Big Tens and NCAAs," head coach Yoshi Hayasaki said. "Against UIC, I am going to try and juggle around the lineup so that some guys can have an opportunity to compete on events they have not competed in before. What we are looking for this weekend, especially, is to become a consistent team, something that we as coaches saw against Michigan. We are looking for that kind of performance week-in and week-out, so I hope our performance against Michigan carries over this weekend into Chicago. I also hope we continue to build on that confidence as we head into the final stretch of our season."

A full recap of the event will be available following the conclusion of the meet on the official home of Illinois men's gymnastics, fightingillini.com. Fans can follow the meet live through live scoring by visiting the men's schedule page on fightingillini.com.

SETTING THE SCENE
The Illini are looking for their fourth dual meet victory of the season - third on the road - when they take on No. 14 UIC this weekend. The Orange and Blue have been on a tear as of late, upending No. 11 Iowa (349.800-349.400) in a dual on the road in Iowa City with a thinned-out lineup before hosting Senior Day last weekend against No. 5 Michigan, taking down the Wolverines in a record-setting 357.150-353.200 victory - Illinois first over U-M since 1998. Overall, this is the second time the two teams have met this season. In their previous meeting, Illinois finished second at the 2008 Windy City Invitational to UIC's fifth-place showing.

ILLINOIS vs. ILLINOIS-CHICAGO HISTORY
This is the 67th meeting between the two teams in their storied history, with Illinois leading the series 50-16, a record that includes all dual, tournament and championship meetings - including the one this season at Windy City. Last year, the Illini pulled out a 210.000-193.000 victory over UIC in Champaign, Ill.

SCOUTING THE FLAMES
The Flames enter this weekend's matchup boasting a 5-2 record on the year in duals, facing a total of two Big Ten opponents during that stretch - both resulting in losses (Iowa, Minnesota). While UIC enters this meet having won their last three duals, its last two over Air Force, the Flames will have a lot of ground to cover when they face Illinois on Saturday.

Overall, Illinois-Chicago has posted a season-high 340.400 on the year, more than three-points short of Illinois' worst score of 2008 (243.850 vs. Minnesota on Jan. 19). UIC scored its season-best in its last outing to top Air Force (340.200) in Colorado Springs, Colo. Leading the way for UIC, and in its win over Air Force, is junior Anthony May. An all-arounder for the Flames this season, he scored his season-best in the all-around against the Falcons with a 84.550 en route to a second-place finish. May also captured the vault crown (15.450) and posted a season-best 14.650 on parallel bars to win that title as well against AF.

This Saturday's meet is UIC's last dual of the year before it heads to the MIT Eastern Invitational, which is a precursor to its ECAC Conference Championship at West Point, N.Y., on April 4-5.

UIC'S LAST TIME OUT
The UIC men's gymnastics team posted its highest team score of the year en route to winning the two-meet weekend series over Air Force at Cadet West Gym on Sunday, March 9. The Flames worked hard to earn every single point as they squeaked by the host Falcons, 340.400-340.200.

Anthony May captured two event titles to help lead UIC's cause, winning the vault and parallel bars titles, while finishing second in the all-around. Neal Thompson once again garnered another event title for the Flames, finishing first on pommel horse with a score of 14.550. Thompson won a combined three events during the two-meet series. Matthew Phillips and Kevin Baune had a nice showing as well, placing second with season-best routines. Phillips tallied a 13.900 on the pommel horse and Baune scored a 13.850 on the high bar. Other performances highlighting the weekend included third-place efforts for Bobby Solomon on floor exercise (14.600), Nikolai Korepanov on still rings (14.400), and Jeff Bill on vault (15.300).

SENIOR SIGN OFF
This year's senior class of Michael Boyer, Ross Bradley, Jon Drollinger, Wes Haagensen, Chris Silcox and Tyler Yamauchi came into the season with high expectations on themselves and this year's Fighting Illini team as a whole. However, injuries have sidelined four of the six in the early goings of the 2008 campaign, making the senior's final season a bit rocky at times. However, despite all of the obstacles, the class has still managed to be a foundation for this team through the first nine meets, and most recently proving their leadership in Illinois' meet against No. 5 Michigan.

Before Illinois' duals against Iowa and Michigan, the senior class had accumulated a total of 18 top-three finishes and four individual titles through four meets. However, in just two weekends alone since starting to return to form, the veteran crew has combined for 11 top-three finishes and five individual titles. They also helped Illinois tab season-bests on pommel horse (58.200), still rings (60.150), parallel bars (58.600) and its team score (357.150) in the process. With two more meets to go before Big Tens (vs. UIC, vs. Minnesota/Iowa), and this class getting healthier by the day, the resurgence of the 2008 seniors will be the deciding factor and stimulus for this year's chances at a Big Ten and NCAA title.

SERIES OF STREAKS
Since 1991, Illinois has dominated the series over Illinois-Chicago, winning every meeting except one during that span, that one coming in 1994 when UIC took a narrow 281.750-278.300 victory in Chicago. Since then, Illinois has won 12 straight, including a 210.000-193.050 victory in Champaign, Ill., last year at Huff Hall.

HAAGENSEN TABBED MOST RECENT BIG TEN GYMNAST OF THE WEEK
Senior Wes Haagensen earned his first Big Ten Gymnast of the Week accolade of the season for the week ending March 10, announced the conference office on March 11. Haagensen, in his efforts, helped lift No. 6 Illinois over No. 5 Michigan on Senior Day at Huff Hall to give Illinois its first win over the Wolverines since 1998 en route to setting a season-high 357.150 in the process. The honor is Haagensen's first of 2008, and third of his career, his last coming on Jan. 17, 2007.

Not only did Haagensen display the top performance in the Big Ten this past week, he also produced his best meet of the season in the process. For most of the 2008 campaign, the Illini veteran has been battling through nagging injuries and has slowly worked his way back to the top form that earned him Big Ten Gymnast of the Year in 2007.

So then fittingly on Senior Day, the defending Big Ten all-around champion Haagensen led the charge, taking home top marks in the all-around (89.600) - the tied for fifth-highest score set by any gymnast in 2008 - and parallel bars (14.950). Haagensen took home five top-three finishes on the afternoon in all, posting a second-place outing on high bar (14.900), and a pair of third-place performances on floor (14.700) and rings (15.250). His marks on rings and in the all-around were career-bests.

Haagensen now has 15 top-three finishes on the year, which include four individual titles - two of which came against the Wolverines. The Belleville, Ill., native now joins freshman Paul Ruggeri on the list of Illini honorees for the weekly honor in 2008, with Ruggeri earning the laurel in back-to-back weeks on Feb. 12 and Feb. 19.

SILCOX MAKES A COMEBACK
Senior Chris Silcox, a 2007 high bar All-American and NCAA individual qualifier on floor last season, has been nursing a pair of injuries in 2008 that have kept him out of the Illini lineup all season.

In his first meet back, however, you would not have known the senior had missed a beat. Taking away the minor deductions from his high bar routine, Silcox came back with a bang, sticking his landing to finish off his first routine of the year in a competition setting en route to taking second overall with a 14.600 in Illinois' meet vs. Michigan. With two more meets to go, Silcox is well on his way to more All-America accolades in 2008.

RIBEIRO RIDING HIGH AS A FRESHMAN
Freshman Daniel Ribeiro is having the best season of any Illini on pommel horse since Ben Newman (2002-05) dominated the event for the Orange and Blue when he captured the Big Ten crown in three consecutive seasons from 2003-05. After a strong start at the Windy City Invitational, the Chestnut Ridge, N.Y., native has finished lower than third only once all season long and has five titles on the year, those coming against a loaded field that included No. 1 Stanford at Windy City, in a dual against three-time defending Big Ten Champion Ohio State, against then-No. 1 Penn State, No. 11 Iowa and most recently against No. 5 Michigan.

Ribeiro is still the top-ranked gymnast on pommel horse in the country in front of notable Tim McNeill of California, the two-time defending NCAA champion on the event. In all, Ribeiro has posted three of the top five scores in the country on the apparatus, including the second-best tally of a 15.600 against Michigan last weekend.

DROLLINGER ON A ROLL
Senior Jon Drollinger has really come into his own on still rings as of late, posting two of the Illini's top-five scores in his last two outings against No. 11 Iowa and No. 5 Michigan. Against the Hawkeyes, Drollinger posted the countries' tied for seventh-best score of 2008 with his 15.500 to win his first event title of the year in the process. Then against the Wolverines, he backed up the effort by tabbing a 15.100, earning him a fourth-place finish in a highly competitive field. With the two top finishes in back-to-back weeks, he has risen to 13th in the country on the apparatus with a three-score average of 15.217.

FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH
In 2008, the youth of Illinois and its freshman and sophomore classes are wowing not only the Illinois coaching staff, but the nation as well. In particular, freshman Paul Ruggeri, who is ranked in the top 10 on four different events, including tied for second on floor exercise (15.617), third on high bar (15.117). The Manlius, N.Y., native also is tabbed No. 8 in the all-around (86.400) and eighth on vault (15.933). On the year, the young Illini has posted 18 top-three finishes to lead all Orange and Blue gymnasts in the category, including a team-leading 10- event titles, with almost a third - four crowns in his last five outings to be exact - coming on floor.

ILLINI IN THE RANKINGS
In the latest GymInfo poll released on March 10, the Illini are ranked sixth with an overall team season-average 354.600. The Illini also are in the top-six on every event, including a No. 3 ranking on pommel horse (57.567) and No. 4 placing on floor (60.400). The Illini also are ranked No. 5 on vault (62.733) and sixth on still rings (59.400), parallel bars (58.283) and high bar (57.967).

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