Feb. 20, 2008

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Freshman Paul Ruggeri of the Illinois men's gymnastics team earned his second straight Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honor for the week ending Feb. 17, the conference office announced today. Ruggeri earns the honor after capturing three event titles on floor, vault and high bar against top-ranked Penn State last weekend.

Ruggeri earned his ninth-12th top-three finishes with the performance against Penn State, including the addition of his fifth, sixth and seventh event titles of the season in the process. Overall, Ruggeri earned top marks on floor (15.700), vault (16.050) and high bar (14.750), while placing second in the all-around (88.100). The three event titles on the night are a career-high at one individual meet for the freshman.

Despite falling short in the end against the Nittany Lions as a team, Ruggeri's performance alone kept the Illini in the meet the entire night. In fact, his win on floor came over Casey Sandy, who is ranked No. 1 on the apparatus - to unranked Ruggeri - and he backed up his No. 2-ranking on parallel bars by winning it outright. Ruggeri's second-place finish in the all-around was just short of No. 1-ranked Sandy of PSU in the meet. To wrap up Ruggeri's highlight-reel of a night, he set career highs on floor, vault, parallel bars and the all-around, and tied his high on pommel horse.

The honor is Ruggeri's second of his career and Illinois' second honor this season, including Ruggeri's Feb. 11 selection. Illinois, as a team, clinched a total of two Big Ten weekly honors in 2007 and has matched that total with seven more weeks of competition left in the season.

Illinois returns to the gym when they head to the Pacific Coast Classic in Oakland, Calif. on Feb. 23, where they will battle against No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 California and No. 4 Oklahoma. The meet is set for a 9:30 p.m. CT, 7:30 p.m. PT, start.

With the event having such a late start on Saturday, Feb. 23, a full recap of the Illini's performance at the 2008 Pacific Coast Classic will be available on fightingillini.com the following Sunday morning. For complete and up-to-date results prior to that, visit the official tournament web site at www.usa-sports.org by clicking on "meet results".