March 22, 2000

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - After posting a season-high score of 228.075 and a third-place finish at the Big Ten Championships, the Illinois men's gymnastics team earned a bid to the 2000 NCAA Championship competition on March 30 in Iowa City, Iowa, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena

This year's championships feature a national qualifying meet on Thursday, March 30, team and all-around finals on Friday, March 31 and individual finals on Saturday, April 1. The Illini earned an No. 8 seed which will put them in the first qualifying session on Thursday beginning at 1 p.m. The 2000 Nissen-Emery Award winner will be announced on Wednesday, March 29 at at luncheon at 11:30 a.m.

The Illini make their 13th apprearance in the NCAA Championships under head coach Yoshi Hayasaki, including a third place national finish in 1998 and the school's last national championship team in 1989. Illinois has had a long tradition of success at the national level. They hold the NCAA record for most team national titles with nine and have the second-most NCAA individual champions with 42.

Illinois will be led by seven-time All-American Travis Romagnoli who won two national titles in '98 and five All-America honors. This year the Illini have an all-around double threat with Romagnoli and junior Leo Oka. Oka was a national qualifier in the all-around last season, but fell short of All-America status with two seventh-place finishes on rings and in the all-around.

The following is the seeding and brackets for Thursday, March 30 in Iowa City, Iowa.

Session I (1 p.m.)
No. 1	Michigan
No. 4	Ohio State
No. 5	Penn State
No. 8 	Illinois
No. 9	Nebraska
No. 12	Massachusetts
Session II ( 7 p.m.)
No. 2	Oklahoma
No. 3	California-Berkeley
No. 6	Iowa
No. 7	Michigan State
No. 10	Brigham Young
No. 11	Stanford
  

All-session tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for students. Tickets for Session I are $10 for adults and $5 for students. Tickets are available from the University of Iowa Ticket Office at (319) 335-9327.