Jan. 12, 2003

The University of Illinois men's gymnastics team opened up the season with a fourth place finish at the Windy City Invitational on Saturday in Chicago. Despite being riddled by injuries, the third-ranked Illini finished with a team score of 207.050 to finish in the middle of a very loaded field. No. 2 Ohio State won the meet with 213.000, followed by No. 7 Iowa (208.750), No. 6 Michigan (207.150), No. 3 Illinois, No. 8 Minnesota (202.900), and No. 13 Illinois-Chicago (199.450).

The Orange and Blue did manage to take home two individual titles on the day. Junior Erik Garnett won the parallel bars with a score of 8.885 and junior Scott Wetterling won the high bar by scoring a 9.25. Freshman Adam Pummer had an outstanding day as well taking third on the floor exercise (9.200) and fourth on the vault (9.25) on the way to a fourth place all-around finish in his first collegiate meet with a score of 51.400. Wetterling finished fifth in the all-around with 51.050. OSU's Randy Monahan took the all-around title with a score of 53.850.

The Illini were without two of their top performers at the meet. Sophomore All-American Peter Shostchuk and freshman standout Justin Spring both missed the meet with wrist injuries.

"I think we performed well considering we were without Shostchuk and Spring," said head coach Yoshi Hayasaki. "We were right there with some of the top teams in the country."

"We are in a good position after the first competition," continued Hayasaki. "Once we get all of our guys healthy in a few weeks, we'll be in much better shape."

The Illini return to action on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 4 p.m., when they travel to Minnesota to take on the Golden Gophers. The Orange and Blue will open up their home schedule on Feb. 1 when they host Ohio State at Huff Hall. That meet will be a co-ed meet with the Fighting Illini women's squad, who will also be taking on the Buckeyes.

TEAM RESULTS
1. Ohio State 213.000
2. Iowa 208.750
3. Michigan 207.150
4. Illinois 207.050
5. Minnesota 202.900
6. UIC 199.450