April 14, 2009

Complete Illinois NCAA Championships Notes in PDF Format

2009 NCAA Championships // Sports Pavilion // Minneapolis, Minn.
Session II Qualifying // Thurs., April 16 // 7 p.m. CT
Team Finals // Friday, April 17 // 7 p.m. CT
Individual Finals // Sat., April 18 // 7 p.m. CT

FOR OPENERS
The No. 3 Fighting Illini men's gymnastics team travels to the 2009 NCAA Championships hosted by the University of Minnesota, April 16-18. The Championships will take place at the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis, Minn. The team finals on April 17, will air tape-delayed on ESPN2 on April 23 at 2 p.m. CT. Bart Connor and Mike Gleason will call the action.

Competition at the 2009 NCAA Championships begins on Thursday, April 16 with two qualifying sessions, scheduled for 1 and 7 p.m. CT. The third-ranked Illini, fresh off their share of the Big Ten team title, will compete in Thursday's evening session along with defending champion No. 2 Oklahoma, host No. 7 Minnesota, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 10 Illinois-Chicago and No. 11 Iowa. Top-ranked Stanford headlines the afternoon session that also includes No. 4 Michigan, No. 5 California, No. 8 Penn State, No. 9 Nebraska and No. 12 Navy.

The top three teams from each session will advance to the six-team finals on Friday, April 17, at 7 p.m.

After finishing third last year, Illinois is gunning for it's first National title since 1989.

ILLINOIS AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Illinois has won nine national titles and a total of 48 individual champions in its storied history. Illinois' last title came in 1989 under head coach Yoshi Hayasaki, while its total almost became an even 10 in 2006 when the Fighting Illini finished just behind Oklahoma for the team crown. Illinois has finished in the top-three in five out of the past six seasons

ILLINI BIG TEN CHAMPIONS
The fourth-ranked Illinois men's gymnastics team came from behind to win its first Big Ten team championship since 2004 in thrilling fashion on April 3 at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich., behind a team score of 357.100. The Illini made a dramatic comeback in the final rotation to share the title with the fifth-ranked Michigan. The Orange and Blue trailed the Wolverines by 2.35 points heading into the last event and strung together their highest total on still rings this season, 59.100, to catch the hosts and claim the Big Ten Championship trophy.

The Conference Championship is the 24th in Illinois history, the most among any Big Ten school.

RUGGERI AND STANNARD CAPTURE BIG TEN INDIVIDUAL TITLES
Sophomore Paul Ruggeri and junior Luke Stannard led Illinois at the 2009 Big Ten Individual Event Finals. Ruggeri captured event titles on floor and parallel bars, while Stannard took top honors on pommel horse. It marked the first time since 1989, the last year Illinois won the NCAA team title, that the Orange and Blue captured three or more individual event titles.

The Big Ten individual titles are the first for both Ruggeri and Stannard. For their accomplishment's both received first team All-Big Ten Honors.

Ruggeri added to his championship hardware at the individual event finals, starting the evening out on floor, where he turned in a flawless routine, scoring a 15.625, .600 ahead of the second place finisher on the event. The Manlius, N.Y., native notched his second event title of the night on parallel bars with a first place score of 15.100. Ruggeri became the first Big Ten champion on floor and parallel bars for Illinois since current assistant coach Justin Spring captured top honors the events in 2004 (floor) and 2006 (parallel bars). The Illinois sophomore tied for third place on high bar (14.575) and took fourth on vault with a score of 15.850, to round out the 2009 conference championships.

A night after setting his career-high of 15.400 on pommel horse, Stannard came up big on the event for the second straight day. The Illinois junior, ranked second in the conference on pommel horse heading into the meet, posted his second highest score this season, 15.275, to capture top honors on the event.

HAYASAKI BIG TEN COACH OF THE YEAR
After leading Illinois to its first Big Ten team title since 2004, Head Coach Yoshi Hayasaki was named Big Ten Coach of the Year. It is the fourth time Hayasaki has received the conference honor in his 33 years at Illinois.

HAYASAKI'S FAREWELL
Legendary gymnastics coach Yoshi Hayasaki is set to retire at the end of the conclusion of the 2009 NCAA Championships. Hayasaki has led the Illini to six straight top-five NCAA finishes, the 1989 NCAA Championship and six Big Ten titles (1981, 1983, 1988, 1989, 2004, and 2009).

During his 33-year career, Hayasaki has produced 86 All-Americans, 46 Big Ten Champions and 10 National Champions, including Paul Ruggeri, who won the 2008 High Bar national title.

Hayasaki has coached three Olympians, Dominick Minicucci (1988 and 1992), Charles Lakes (1988) and current assistant coach Justin Spring (2008). He has also coached two winners of the Nissen-Emery Award in David Zeddies (1989) and Spring (2006). Zeddies (1988), Travis Romagnoli (1998), Spring (2006) and Wes Haagensen (2007) all went on to earn Big Ten Gymnast of the Year honors with Hayasaki at the helm.

ILLINI IN THE RANKINGS
The Illini came in at No. 3 in the latest GymInfo rankings on April 7 with an average of 355.960. As a team, the Illini lead the nation on pommel horse with an average score of 59.870. The Orange and Blue rank third on floor (59.970), fourth on parallel bars (58.310), fourth on high bar (57.980), seventh on vault (61.960) and sixth on still rings (58.840).

2008 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS RECAP
Illinois finished third at the 2008 NCAA Championships behind a season-high score of 359.750, after advancing to finals for the sixth straight year. Paul Ruggeri captured the 2008 NCAA high bar national championship and was one of seven Illinois gymnasts to earn All-America honors. Illinois 2008 All-Americans included Ruggeri capturing his first accolades of his career when he earned the laurels on floor (tied for fifth), vault (fifth) and high bar (first). He was followed by first-time winners senior Jon Drollinger on rings (seventh), sophomore Brian Liscovitz on parallel bars (seventh) and freshman Daniel Ribeiro on pommel horse (sixth). The All-America honorees also included senior Wes Haagensen on parallel bars, taking third, senior Tyler Yamauchi on vault (fourth) and senior Ross Bradley for the second time in his career on high bar (fifth)

RIBEIRO RIDING HIGH
Illinois sophomore Daniel Ribeiro, ranked No. 1 in the country on pommel horse heading into the NCAA Championships, hit an almost flawless pommel horse routine to score a 15.950 on the event and take home the individual crown in the dual meet against the UIC Flames on March 6. The score of 15.950 is the highest number posted by any NCAA gymnast this season on the event and was a career-high for the Chesnut Ridge, N.Y., native.

After capturing the 2008 Big Ten Individual Crown on pommel horse, Ribeiro will be looking for his first NCAA title on pommel horse this week.

*Complete notes above in .pdf format