Jan. 30, 2008
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -
The Illinois men's gymnastics team improved in the rankings this week, moving up one spot to No. 5 in the year's second GymInfo poll that is decided by team averages, announced the official online polling organization, GymInfo. The Illini, who opened the season ranked No. 8, are ranked in the top six on every event and boast freshman Daniel Ribeiro as the top pommel horse gymnast in the country, as he is rated No. 1 with an average of a 14.950 on the apparatus.
As a team, Illinois' highest rankings on an event is third on floor exercise (59.683) followed by fourth on both pommel horse (55.917) and high bar (56.833). The improvement on pommel horse, Illinois weakest event last year, is anchored by the addition of youngster Ribeiro, the highest points getter for Illinois thus far, including two event titles to his name this season.
The Illini also boast a No. 6 rating on rings (57.867), vault (61.933) and parallel bars (56.717) to round out their rankings in the poll.
Individually, sophomore Chad Wiest ranks tied for third on floor exercise (15.450) and is joined by senior co-captain Tyler Yamauchi, who is tied for 13th (14.900). Following Ribeiro on pommel, sophomore Luke Stannard comes in at No. 15 (13.983). On rings, Yamauchi leads the way in eighth (14.883) and is joined by senior 2007 Big Ten Gymnast of the Year Wes Haagensen (14.567) in 20th.
Haagensen, who has been battling back from injury all season long, is Illinois' highest gymnast on vault (15.800) in ninth, closely followed by freshman star Paul Ruggeri (15.783) in 10th. On high bar, Ruggeri carries the torch in fifth (14.767), followed by Haagensen in 15th (14.467). Rounding out the Illini in the rankings is Haagensen at No. 5 in the all-around (88.500), trailed by Ruggeri in 12th (84.150).
The Illini now take a break from collegiate competition and prepare to send gymnasts to the annual Winter Cup Challenge in Las Vegas, Nev., on Feb. 8-9. The event, an international showing of some of the top gymnasts in the world, is a preview of some of the competitors that could be donning their countries colors at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Illinois then returns to conference and dual action when they host defending NCAA champion Penn State on Feb. 16 at Huff Hall, for a 7 p.m. meet in Champaign.
