Results (Web) | Results (PDF)
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois Men's Gymnastics opened the 2016 season with its best score to start a season in program history as the Illini routed UIC by a score of 432.500-374.250. The Orange and Blue saw 19 new career highs set in this afternoon's victory. UI has now won the last 24 head-to-head meetings with the Flames and hold a 71-16 all-time record against the in-state foes.
Illinois opened the 2016 season on floor with a team score of 71.000. Freshman Alex Diab made his Illini debut and won the event with a score of 15.200. Chandler Eggleston posted a 15.000, good for second place, in his first routine back after redshirting the 2015 season due to a knee injury. Logan Bradley (14.200) turned in a career high, while Matt Foster contributed a 12.800. Additionally, Blake Martin made his debut in the Orange and Blue and earned a 13.800, good for a top-five finish on the event.
UI's summer upgrades on the pommel horse paid off, as five of the six Illini gymnasts to compete posted a career high on the apparatus. Three Fighting Illini scored 15.150 or better, which was the team's best individual mark in the event across all of last season. Bradley (15.350), Brandon Ngai (15.300) and Bobby Baker (15.150) finished in first through third respectively. Foster (14.650) and Tom Gibbs (14.300) rounded out the top five. As a unit, Illinois scored a 74.750 on pommel horse, a new Illinois program record.
The Fighting Illini held a 14-point lead heading into the third rotation of the meet. Baker claimed the meet's title on still rings, marking his first crown on the event as an Illini. Illinois again owned the top spots, thanks to the efforts of Baker (14.350), Gibbs (14.200) and Dennis Minton (14.200). Foster (career high), Max Mayr and Diab all finished in a tie for fifth place with a score of 13.600.
Eggleston took home the sixth vault title of his career, posting a 15.200 to finish first. Baker turned in a 14.950 to earn runner-up honors and Diab grabbed a third place finish with a mark of 14.450. Martin (14.350) finished fourth, and Gibbs (14.100) fifth, in the vault competition.
Next, on parallel bars, Baker claimed the top spot with a 14.600 outing. Mayr claimed second place, scoring a 14.150, while Foster and Eggleston shared third place with a mark of 14.000.
With a team score of 73.100 on high bar, the Orange and Blue posted the fourth-best score on the event in the modern-scoring era. Individually, Baker claimed his third title of the night and has now won a crown in all seven categories as an Illini. Baker posted a 15.200 to claim the title over Eggleston, who closed out the meet with a 15.100 (career high). Diab (14.600), Mayr (14.250) and Gibbs (13.950) rounded out the top-five scorers in the event.
In addition to his floor title, Diab added an all-around crown with a final tally of 83.250.
TITLE WINNERS
Floor – Alex Diab
Pommel – Logan Bradley
Rings – Bobby Baker
Vault – Chandler Eggleston
Parallel Bars – Bobby Baker
High Bar – Bobby Baker
All-Around – Alex Diab
LOOKING AHEAD
After hosting the Flames this weekend, UI will head to Chicago next weekend for the UIC-hosted Windy City Invitational on Sunday, January 17. The field will feature six teams including Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio State and UIC. Last season at the event, the Illini took home the title, getting the best of then two-time defending national champion Michigan.
