April 13, 2003
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Four Fighting Illini gymnasts competed in the NCAA event finals on Sunday at the Liacouras Center, all four earned All-American status (top six). Four different individual All-Americans are the most for Illinois since 1962.
"We had another great day today at the individual finals," said Illinois Head Coach Yoshi Hayasaki. "We came up with four All-Americans, which is the most we've had in quite sometime. We had a freshman, a sophomore and two juniors become All-Americans today, which bodes well for the future."
Sophomore Peter Shostchuk (Voorhees HS, Glen Gardner, N.J.) earned All-American status for the second consecutive year by tying a career high of 9.575 on the pommel horse to take third place. Last season, Shostchuk finished fourth on the horse with a score of 9.437.
"Coming into the meet, I was hoping to become an All-American again," said Shostchuk. "It was good to move up to third from fourth last year; hopefully I can improve again next season. I'm just happy with the way all the guys performed all weekend. We had another good meet today and four of us are All-Americans now."
Junior Scott Wetterling (Hopewell Valley HS, Pennington, N.J.) tied a career best by scoring a 9.600 on the high bar to finish third and to take home All-American honors. The finish was especially sweet for Wetterling; last season he was the nation's second ranked high bar competitor at the end of the regular season, but was unable to compete at the NCAA Championships because of a broken ankle he suffered at the Big Ten Championships.
"Scott had a very disappointing year last year because of the injury at the Big Ten Championships," Coach Hayasaki said. "For him to be able to come back this year and finish third is certainly a great accomplishment. I'm very pleased with how Scott performed this weekend."
"It's always been a dream of mine to become an All-American," said Wetterling. "Next year I'd like to do it in the all-around, but this is a big step towards that goal. Before my performance I was thinking about how it has been great to hit my routine two days in a row to help the team out and that today I wanted to hit it for myself. It's amazing that I was able to hit my routine three times in a row when it mattered the most."
Freshman Justin Spring (Lake Braddock HS, Burke, Va.) competed in three event finals and took home All-American honors on one of those in his first ever trip to the NCAA Championships. The Burke, Va. Native finished fourth on the floor exercise with a score of 9.287 and also finished seventh on the parallel bars (8.650) and eighth on the high bar (8.775).
UI junior Bob Rogers (Nathan Hale HS, West Allis, Wisc.) took home sixth place on the floor exercise with a score of 9.100 to become an All-American for the first time.
In Saturday's team finals, top-ranked Oklahoma won its second consecutive NCAA title with a score of 222.600. Illinois scored 217.125 and finished fifth in the team competition, its highest finish since 1998. Oklahoma's Daniel Furney won the all-around crown with a score of 56.100.
Illini on ESPN
The 2003 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships will be aired on ESPN on a tape delay basis this Monday, April 14 at 2:30 p.m. (CT). The broadcast will feature performances and highlights from Saturday's team finals and from Sunday's event finals.
2003 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships
Day 3 - Individual Event Finals
Floor Exercise
1. Josh Landis OU 9.675*
2. Graham Ackerman Cal 9.650*
3. Kerry Adderly OSU 9.312*
4. Justin Spring ILL 9.287*
5. Clay Strother Minn 9.125*
6. Bob Rogers ILL 9.100*
7. Dan Gill Stan 9.087
8. Cody Trobaugh OSU 8.675
Pommel Horse
1. Josh Landis OU 9.687*
2. Zack Roeder PSU 9.600*
3. Peter Shostchuk ILL 9.575*
4. Clay Strother Minn 9.550*
5. Ryan Schwartzkopf OSU 9.537*
6. Raj Bhavsar OSU 9.362*
7. Scott Vetere Mich 9.312
8. Daniel Furney OU 8.600
Still Rings
1. Kevin Tan PSU 9.762*
2. Marshall Erwin Stan 9.750*
3. Nyika White Tem 9.687*
4. Brett Covay OU 9.662*
5. Conan Parzuchowski Mich 9.550*
6. Raj Bhavsar OSU 9.487*
7. Jamie Henderson OU 9.450
8. Cody Trobaugh OSU 9.437
9. Brian Lee Army 9.212
10. Randy Monahan OSU 8.725
Vault
1. Andrew DiGiore Mich 9.650*
2. Zack Roeder PSU 9.625*
3. Jock Stevens OU 9.500*
4. Dan Gill Stan 9.462*
5. Daniel Furney OU 9.425*
6. Ludwig Kern PSU 9.362*
7. Kevin Donohue PSU 9.262
8. Dustin Greenhill Army 9.200
9. David Eaton Cal 8.950
Parallel Bars
1. Daniel Furney OU 9.475*
2. Dustin Greenhill Army 9.075*
3. Heath Mueller OU 9.000*
4. Josh Landis OU 8.887*
5. Steven Friedman Neb 8.837*
6. Luis Vargas PSU 8.800*
7. Justin Spring ILL 8.650
8. Raj Bhavsar OSU 8.550
9. Ronald Ferris OSU 8.450
High Bar
1. Linas Gaveika Iowa 9.712*
2. Kevin Tan PSU 9.625*
3. Scott Wetterling ILL 9.600*
4. Daniel Furney OU 9.475*
5. Kevin Donohue PSU 9.312*
6. Luis Vargas PSU 9.125*
7. Michael Reavis Iowa 9.025
8. Justin Spring ILL 8.775
* The top six individuals on each event earned All-American status.
