Illinois vs. Michigan Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

March 7, 2007

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. ­ - The No. 6 Illinois men's gymnastics team continues it Big Ten conference schedule when it travels to Ann Arbor, Mich., on Saturday, March 10, to take on the top-ranked Wolverines at 7 p.m. at Cliff Keen Arena on the campus of the University of Michigan. The Illini are coming off a record-breaking performance against Iowa in which they registered their first duel-meet win of the season in a 214.950-209.500 victory.

A full recap of the meet can be found at fightingillini.com, following the conclusion of the event. Live scoring and video will not be available for Illinois' road meet against the Wolverines.

SETTING THE SCENE
The Illini have continued to heat up the gym in their last two outings, and will be looking to keep that going as they travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., to take on the nation's best in No. 1 Michigan on March 10, at 7 p.m. The Orange and Blue have had mixed results up to this point in the season, starting off the year with a second-place showing at the Windy City Invitational, and most recently posting their first duel win of the season over No. 9 Iowa, 214.950-209.500. Overall, the meet between the Illini and the Wolverines marks the 169th time the two teams have met in either regular season, an invitational or championships competitions. Illinois owns an all-time record of 101-67 over Michigan in their historical rivalry.

ORANGE AND BLUE- THE LAST TIME OUT
The No. 6 Illinois men's gymnastics team defeated the No. 9 Iowa Hawkeyes Saturday 214.950- 209.500. In addition to posting a new team season high, the Orange and Blue gymnasts claimed four event titles, seven career-highs and seven season-highs. The Illini also walked away recording new team highs on three events: pommel horse (34.250), still rings (37.550) and high bar (35.800).

MICHIGAN'S PAST
In its last outing, the No. 1-ranked University of Michigan men's gymnastics team defeated No. 5-ranked Stanford 212.350-208.100 Saturday, March 3, in Burnham Pavilion. Junior co-captain Andrew Elkind's first-place finishes led U-M, as he took home titles on the high bar (9.250) and parallel bars (9.700), earning him a piece of the Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honor, which he shared with junior Illini Tyler Yamauchi. The Wolverines led the entire meet, capturing three individual first-place finishes and four out of six team event titles. The Maize and Blue boosted their duel-meet record to 5-0.

MAKE IT A CAREER NIGHT
In the Illini's first duel-meet victory of the season against Iowa, the Orange and Blue again posted season and career highs in the performance. On floor exercise, Illinois was led by freshman standout Chad Wiest, who edged out Iowa's Geoff Reins (9.400) for the event crown with a 9.450. Junior Chris Silcox claimed third on the event, recording a 9.300. Sophomore Tyler Williamson and freshman Andres Saavedra also experienced personal success, recording career-highs of 9.200 and 8.300, respectively.

On pommel horse, freshman Luke Stannard battled his way to claim second place individually, tallying a career-high 8.950. Junior Tyler Yamauchi claimed third on the event, recording a season-high 8.550. Juniors Jon Drollinger and Yamauchi shared the rings title, carding scores of 9.600. For Drollinger, it marked a new career-high on the event, while for Yamauchi it was his third top-three finish on the event this season and helped him earn a share of the Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honor for the week ending March 4. Junior Wes Haagensen claimed 9.250 to take home fourth.

Yamauchi (9.050) and Wiest (8.800) continued their success on vault, executing routines to take home second- and third-place finishes on the event. Silcox (8.750) and Saavedra (8.750) each posted new season highs, following their teammates to tie for fourth. The Orange and Blue were led once again by Yamauchi and Wiest on parallel bars, each tallying season-highs on the apparatus. Yamauchi claimed his second event title of the night with a 9.300, and Wiest followed with an 8.700 (tying his previous season and career high) in third. Haagensen tied his season-high 9.400 to claim the event title on high bar, followed by fellow junior and captain Michael Boyer in third (recording a season-high 9.000). Stannard and Wiest also set career-highs of 8.650, respectively.

PEAKING AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME
The sport of gymnastics is a sport where preseason and mid-season hiccups do not make or break an entire year. For the Illini, that fact is what continues to allow the Orange and Blue gymnasts a shot at a conference and national title.

The Illini have progressively increased their team scores over the last three duel meets, finally tallying their first victory in a 214.950-209.500 win over No. 9 Iowa. The 214.950 is an Illinois season high, and was achieved without the Illini's top gymnast, Wes Haagensen, entered in all six events. If all expectations come to fruition, Illini fans can hope to see scores between the range of 215-217 come NCAAs.

TOP-25 NATIONALLY RANKED ILLINI

Chad Wiest
• T6th Floor Exercise
• 10th Vault

Wes Haagensen
• 3rd All-Around
• 10th Floor Exercise
• T13th Vault
• T3rd High Bar
• 22nd Parallel Bars
• 25th Pommel Horse

Jon Drollinger
• 10th Rings

Tyler Yamauchi
• 5th Rings
• 3rd Vault
• 25th Parallel Bars

Chris Silcox
• 13th Floor Exercise
• 22nd High Bar

Luke Stannard
• T18th Pommel Horse

LOOKING AHEAD
The Illini wrap up their home dual meet schedule when they host Illinois-Chicago on March 17 at Huff Hall. The meet is scheduled for a 2 p.m., and will serve as the final tune-up for the Illini before heading to the Big Ten Championships hosted by the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minn., on March 30-31.