March 4, 2000

IOWA CITY, Iowa - The fifth-ranked Illinois men's gymnastics team finished second in a tri-meet besting No. 7 Michigan State, 225.20-223.90, while falling to No. 4 Iowa 225.20-230.150, Friday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

Junior Leo Oka (Scarborough, Ontario) scored a 56.025 in the all-around to take first, while also winning floor with a career and team season-high 9.80 and placed fourth on both rings and vault and fifth on parallel bars. Sophomore J.G. Ketchen took second on still rings with a 9.70 and Linh Hoang posted a 9.60 on vault for fifth. Sean-Paul Crawford also placed in the top-5 on floor with his fourth-place score of 9.650.

"It was good to see Leo (Oka) have a solid performance tonight," head coach Yoshi Hayasaki said. "I think we are finally getting ready to show some of our best gymnastics of the year. It is always tough to come into Carver-Hawkeye Arena and come out with a win."

The Illini will be back in action next weekend as they travel west to battle in the Santa Barbara Invitational. Among the field of teams will be Air Force, California-Berkeley, Iowa, California-Santa Barbara, Stanford and Hayasaki's alma mater Washington. Meet time is set for 9 p.m. CT on March 11.