CHICAGO - The University of Illinois placed three gymnasts in the top 10 in the all-around to take third place of seven teams at the UIC-hosted Windy City Invitational Saturday night in Chicago.

The Illini scored a 223.450 to finish behind No. 2 Ohio State which won the meet with a 225.725 and defending national champion Michigan which placed second with a 224.900. With the third-place finish, the Illini improve their record to 5-2, 3-2 in the Big Ten.

Junior Leo Oka took second in the all-around with a score of 56.175, followed by Travis Romagnoli in fifth (55.30) and Sean-Paul Crawford in ninth (54.150). Oka also took third on floor exercise and vault and seventh on still rings. Romagnoli scored a near-perfect 9.90 on high bar to place second in the event.

The Illini had outstanding performances on floor exercise as a team, placing five gymnasts in the top 13 and coming one-hundreth of a point from breaking the school record on the event. Jon Ham and Crawford both placed seventh with a 9.65. Illinois also had four gymnasts place in the top 14 on high bar, including true-freshman Bob Spelic and sophomore J.G. Ketchen with a ninth-place mark of 9.40.

The Fighting Illini will be back in action on Jan. 22 when they travel to Minnesota for a dual meet with the Golden Gophers at 1 p.m. Illinois opens its home schedule on Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. at Huff Hall agains t Michigan State.

WINDY CITY INVITATIONAL