Jan. 13, 2001

CHICAGO, Ill.- The eighth-ranked Illinois men's gymnastics team took second place at the Windy City Invitational, defeating five ranked opponents and falling to No. 1 Michigan by only three-tenths of a point, Saturday night in Chicago.

Senior All-American Leo Oka (Scarborough, Ontario) picked up where he left off last season by winning the all-around competition. Senior Linh Hoang (Houston, Texas) took second in the all-around, both seniors defeated defending national champion Scott Vetere from Michigan.

"This meet was a great opportunity to see where we stood up against the rest of the country and we showed that we can contend for a national championship this year," head coach Yoshi Hayasaki said. "We faltered on pommel horse tonight, but we have been very successful on the event in workouts and I know we will bounce back."

The Illini led the invitational after four rotations before slipping on pommel horse. The squad followed up with a strong performance on rings to finish second for the night.--