April 6, 2006

Norman, Okla. - The fourth-ranked University of Illinois men's gymnastics team concluded preliminary competition in second place behind top ranked Oklahoma and in front of No.5 California on Thursday night advancing to tomorrow's Team Final. The Fighting Illini will now compete for the NCAA Championship at 7 p.m. (CDT) at Oklahoma's Llyod Noble Center.

"The most important thing today was getting into the finals," veteran head coach Yoshi Hayasaki said. "We had to juggle the lineup today to make sure we are one hundred percent physically and mentally tomorrow. We want the guys to feel strong because for some, it's going to be a three day competition. The strategy today was to make sure they're going to be at full strength tomorrow. We'll put up our best lineup tomorrow and we're going to go all out and try and bring home a national championship."

The Illini had a solid start with a season-high 36.925 on parallel bars to take an early lead. The Orange and Blue moved on to high bar where they extended their lead behind senior Justin Spring's 9.650 with a 38.050. The Illini's parallel bars and high bar scores were both high scores of the day. After two rotations, the Fighting Illini led second place California by over two and a half points. After a bye in the third rotation, the Illini resumed competition on floor exercise posting a 35.875, but California narrowed Illinois' lead and Oklahoma moved into first with a bye still remaining.

The Illini posted a 33.450 on pommel horse and with two events remaining fell to third place behind Oklahoma and California who stood at first and second place, respectively. The Illini rings team posted a 35.190 to maintain the team's third place standing. In the final rotation, Illinois vaulted into second place with a 35.325 to seal their bid in tomorrow's Team Final.

In Session II, No. 1 Oklahoma (217.225) finished first, followed by Illinois (214.775) and California (213.900) joining the top three teams from Session I.

In Session I, No. 2 Stanford was the top qualifier (215.900) followed by No. 6 Penn State (213.240). The surprise of the day came in the final rotation which saw No. 7 Iowa overtake No. 3 Ohio State with a score of 36.750 on high bar to raise their team total to 212.425. The Hawkeyes ended the Buckeyes streak of 25 consecutive team final appearances.

It was no surprise that Nissen-Emery winner Justin Spring highlighted the first day of competition concluding the session in the top-five on three events. The two-time NCAA Champion finished first on high bar (9.650), tied for first on floor exercise (9.300) and tied for second on parallel bars (9.525).

Adam Pummer bolstered the Illini lineup returning from injury that withheld the senior from the Big Ten Championships. Pummer's 9.625 on high bar placed him in second place in the second session while his 9.525 on parallel bars tied him with Spring for second place. He also posted an eighth place 9.200 on vault. In addition, sophomore Wesley Haagensen had a strong meet concluding the first day in first place on vault (9.375), and tied for first on floor exercise (9.300).

Senior Ted Brown (8.600) and freshman Chris Lung (8.500) finished tied for fourth and sixth on pommel horse, respectively. Sophomore Tyler Yamauchi's 8.975 on rings placed him in sixth and sophomore Jon Drollinger's 8.850 rings score put him in 11th.

Coach Hayasaki noted that there is still room for improvement and that the team can put up a better score in the team final.

"I think we'll have to perform better on pommel horse and rings and even on floor," Hayasaki said. "We had a very good start in the first two events and then we started to coast. It was not an all out effort from us today on certain events and tomorrow there will be no excuse - we have to go all out, one hundred percent and try and win the championship."

The Illini hope to ride the momentum they built in the qualifying session when they begin the team finals and vie for their first national title since 1989. Visit www.ncaasports.com for live stats.

2006 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships
Hosted by University of Oklahoma
Preliminary Round

SESSION I
Team Scores	Total	FX	PH	SR	VT	PB	HB
1. Stanford*	215.900	36.425	34.150	36.800	36.650	35.625	36.250
2. Penn State*	213.240	35.950	33.700	36.725	36.050	34.950	36.075
3. Iowa	*       212.425	36.025	33.300	35.300	36.200	34.850	36.750
4. Ohio State	211.700	36.357	32.650	34.700	36.500	35.275	36.300
5. Minnesota	206.950	34.025	31.800	33.700	36.175	35.725	35.525
6. W&M	        202.025	34.125	29.850	32.550	36.175	34.475	34.850

SESSION II
Team Scores	Total	FX	PH	SR	VT	PB	HB
1. Oklahoma*	217.225	33.650	37.550	36.800	35.675	37.700	37.700
2. Illinois*	214.775	35.875	33.450	35.150	35.325	36.925	38.050
3. California*	213.900	35.775	33.550	34.400	35.725	36.675	37.775
4. Michigan	208.850	36.250	31.050	35.450	36.575	33.850	35.675
5. Nebraska	204.925	33.950	33.825	33.100	35.700	33.625	34.725
6. Temple	196.925	33.550	30.750	31.700	34.725	32.800	33.400
* advances to Team Finals

Illinois Individual Finishes (Session II)
Floor Exercise
1T. Wesley Haagensen - 9.300
1T. Justin Spring - 9.300
16. Chris Silcox - 8.700
19. Adam Pummer - 8.575
23T. Ross Bradley - 8.350

Pommel Horse
4T. Ted Brown - 8.600
6T. Chris Lung - 8.500
14. Wesley Haagensen -  8.350
18T. Chris Silcox - 8.000
18T. Tyler Yamauchi - 8.000

Still Rings
6. Tyler Yamauchi - 8.975
11. Jon Drollinger - 8.875
13T. Justin Spring - 8.700
17T. Nick Stango  - 8.600
33. Chris Lung - 7.650

Vault
1. Wesley Haagensen - 9.375
8. Adam Pummer - 9.200
22T. Anthony Russo - 8.750
37. Chris Silcox - 8.000
38. Michael Boyer - 7.900

Parallel Bars
2T. Adam Pummer - 9.525
2T. Justin Spring - 9.525
9T. Wesley Haagensen - 8.950
11. Tyler Yamauchi - 8.925
25T. Chris Silcox - 8.250
40. Ted Brown - 7.700

High Bar
1. Justin Spring - 9.650
2. Adam Pummer - 9.625
7. Wesley Haagensen - 9.425
11T. Ross Bradley - 9.350
21T. Chris Lung - 8.800
42. Chris Silcox - 7.100