Junior Paul Ruggeri

Dec. 4, 2009

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Fighting Illini men and women's gymnastics teams will team up on Sunday, Dec. 6, at 2 p.m. for the annual Mixed Pairs Exhibition meet at Huff Hall. Members of both squads will form teams of one female and one or two males to compete for the Mixed Pairs title. Both teams will be using the women's 10-point scoring system in order to add scores systematically to determine the winning group. Members of both squads will be available for autographs and will be handing out team posters at the conclusion of the event. Doors open at 1 p.m., and admission is free. Live streaming video will also be available at fightingillini.com.

Associate head coach Justin Spring will make his debut at the helm of the men's team, as the squad looks to pick up where it left off last season, after claiming its first Big Ten team title since 2004 and a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Team Championships. The team opened the season ranked fifth nationally in the 2010 GymInfo Preseason Coaches poll.

The Illini return junior All-Americans Daniel Ribeiro and Paul Ruggeri, who enjoyed stellar sophomore seasons in 2009. Ribeiro took home his first NCAA national title on the pommel horse, while Ruggeri claimed his second straight NCAA national title on the high bar and his first on the parallel bars. It marked the first time since 1958 that Illinois won at least three individual titles. Senior Luke Stannard, the reigning Big Ten champion on the pommel horse, also is back for the Orange and Blue.

The women's gymnastics team enters the 2010 season ranked 13th in the nation, the highest preseason ranking in program history, after its first ever NCAA Championship appearance last season. The Illini continued their rise toward elite status by finishing 12th at the national championships, the best finish in school history, and recording runner-up finishes at the Big Ten Championships and the NCAA West Regional. The squad also looks to pick up where it left off a year ago and has high hopes for the upcoming season.

The Illini women return three All-Americans in juniors Allison Buckley and Melissa Fernandez and senior Sarah Schmidt. Fernandez was Illinois' first first-team honoree on the balance beam, while Schmidt earned second team honors on floor in 2009 and shared the Big Ten floor exercise title. Buckley took home second-team All-America honors on balance beam in 2008 and was the 2009 West Regional Beam champion.

Also returning for the women are sophomore Kelsey Joannides, the 2009 Big Ten vault champion, and senior Nicole Cowart, a second-team All-Big Ten selection. Even with so much returning from a year ago, a very talented recruiting class is expected to compete for line-up spots. Freshmen Elise Gill (Afton, Minn./Concordia Academy Roseville), Macy Hyatt (Atlanta, Ga./Kennesaw Mountain), Jaclyn Kantecki (Bridgeview, Ill./Queen of Peace), Abbie Leber (Bellbrook, Ohio/Bellbrook) and Alina Weinstein (Plainsboro, N.J./West Windsor Plainsboro South) have all looked very good early on in this preseason and should provide depth in several areas, making this year's Illini squad a serious threat to return to the NCAA Championships.

Both squads begin the regular season on the road. The women get things started on Friday, Jan. 8 in Corvallis, Ore., against No. 10 Oregon State, Air Force and Alaska, while the men kick things off at the Windy City Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. in Chicago.

The women open their home schedule on Saturday, Jan. 23 against No. 9 Oklahoma, and the men begin their home season on Saturday, Feb. 13, when they square off against No. 8 Minnesota.

Mixed Pairs Teams
Samantha Perino / Tyler Mizoguchi
Nicole Cowart / Kyle Padera
Melissa Fernandez / Austin Phillips
Laura Woolf / Paul Ruggeri
Lashlee Morris / Chad Wiest
Jaclyn Kantecki / Luke Stannard
Kelsey Joannides / Tyler Williamson
Allison Buckley / C.J. Padera
Sarah Schmidt / Maxwell Portocarrero
Alina Weinstein / Daniel Ribeiro
Hannah Welker / Brian Liscovitz
Elise Gill / Malcolm Brown / Kyle Moe

Senior Sarah Schmidt