Jan. 8, 2000
The University of Illinois' gymnastics teams opened the 2000 season with a
pair of wins at Illinois-Chicago Saturday with the women outscoring the
Flames 190.450 to 187.850 while the Fighting Illini men won 225.325 to
219.650.
The Fighting Illini women were led by Phaedra Dixon who earned the top spot
in the all-around with a score of 38.325, she was followed by teammate
Karen Hawley who scored a 38.025. The Illini earned first-place honors in
each event. Dixon won the uneven bars with a score of 9.825, freshman
Michelle Buranich won the vault with a score of 9.725, freshman Jana
Gallagher won the beam with a score of 9.750 and junior Lisa Pellegrinetti
earned the top spot on floor with a mark of 9.725.
The Fighting Illini women's squad faced the Flames four times last season
and posted a 1-2-1 record. Illinois-Chicago won the season-opening dual in
Champaign and later at a meet at Louisiana State, but the Illini rebounded
and tied UIC at the Illinois State Meet and placed ahead of the Flames at
the NCAA Region 3 Championships. The Illini have now won the last two
meetings between the two schools.
Seven-time All-American Travis Romagnoli earned top honors on the
horizontal bar on a night that saw several personal marks fall on the
Illini side. Sean-Paul Crawford set personal best on floor (9.775), still
rings (9.450) and vault (9.600). Crawford won floor and was the Illini's
top finisher on vault. Other personal best on the night went to Linh Hoang
on still rings (9.650) and parallel bars (9.800), Leo Oka on still rings
(9.700), and Eric Nishimoto on parallel bars (9.400). As a team, the Illini
had two events (still rings and parallel bars) in which three athletes set
new personal best.
Linh Hoang won the parallel bars with his score of 9.800, Crawford the
floor exercise with the 9.775 and Oka earned the top spot on rings with his
9.700 and the pommel horse with a 9.350.
The men's squad faced each other two times last season with the Illini
claiming wins in both contests. The Fighting Illini topped the Flames at
the Windy City Invitational and on a Valentine's Day dual in Chicago.
