University of Illinois
NCAA Championships
Ribeiro, Ruggeri Capture NCAA Individual Event Titles
April 18, 2009 | Men's Gymnastics
Complete Results in PDF Format 
April 18, 2009
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Illinois sophomores Daniel Ribeiro and Paul Ruggeri were crowned national champions on Saturday during the NCAA Event Finals held at the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis. Ruggeri won his second-consecutive NCAA High Bar Championship and his first NCAA Parallel Bars title, while Ribeiro earned his first national championship on pommel horse. This marks the first time since 1958 that Illinois has walked away with at least three individual titles.
"This was a superb performance from Daniel and Paul this evening," Illinois head coach Yoshi Hayasaki said. "Paul performed his best routine this season on high bar tonight. This is one of the best performances from all our finalists that I've seen, and as a result we came up with three national championships and three All-Americans. It was a great day for Illinois gymnastics."
After capturing the high bar national championship as a freshman, Ruggeri had the pressure on him to repeat this evening. He turned in an almost flawless routine, scoring a 15.750, to capture his second-consecutive NCAA High Bar Championship. In his last event of the night, the 2009 Big Ten Parallel Bars Champion Ruggeri posted the top score of the night with a 15.175, for his first National Championship on parallel bars. The Manlius, N.Y., native rounded out his top-three finishes of the NCAA Championships finishing runner-up on floor with a 15.600. Ruggeri earned a total of four All-America honors at this year's championships, bringing his overall total to seven.
"It definitely feels great to repeat as high bar champion," Ruggeri said. "I wasn't expecting to win parallel bars tonight, but it's exciting and it's good to know that my training has paid off on the event. I learned some unique skills over the summer that people don't normally do and that's where I think I have the edge."
Ranked No. 1 in the country coming into the championships, Illinois sophomore Daniel Ribeiro came out on top, capturing the 2009 NCAA pommel horse national title with a score of 15.575. Ribeiro becomes the first pommel horse national champion for Illinois since 2004, when former Illini Bob Rogers won the title. With the first place finish, the Chestnut Ridge, N.Y., native earns All-America honors on pommel horse for the second straight year.
"I trained hard throughout the year and all of the hard work I've put in makes winning the title incredible," Ribeiro said of his first national title. "I've been pretty consistent with my routine this year and my goal coming in was to just stay on the horse and hit as clean as I could."
Sophomore Roger Pasek, making his first appearance at the NCAA Individual Event Finals, started the night out on floor for Illinois. The Sleepy Hollow, Ill., native scored a 15.425 for 6th place to earn his first All-America honors. In all, Illinois had three All-Americans, capturing five All-America honors.
Illinois senior Chris Lung, wrapped up his incredible four-year career, by qualifying for the high bar event final. After slipping on high bar, Lung regrouped and finished his routine, scoring a 12.525, just shy of earning All-America honors.
After crowning three National Champions this evening, legendary Coach Hayasaki wraps up his final year at the helm of the Illinois program having coached 89 All-Americans, 46 Big Ten Champions and 13 National Champions. His crowning moment came in 1989 when he led the Illini to the NCAA Team Championship. Hayasaki has had a remarkable end to his illustrious coaching career, capturing the 2009 Big Ten Championship and earning Big Ten Coach of the Year and Central Region Coach of the Year honors this season.
"I feel that having a great performance tonight and winning the Big Ten Championship wraps up a great run," Hayasaki said of his final competition. "This entire season has been incredible and I have nothing but praise for all the guys who performed and trained so hard the entire year and came up with results when it mattered the most. I feel very lucky to have been a part of it."
The 2009 NCAA Championship team and all-around finals will air on ESPN2 on April 23 at 2 p.m. CT.
INDIVIDUAL EVENT FINALS RESULTS
FLOOR
2. Paul Ruggeri - 15.600*
6. Roger Pasek - 15.425*
POMMEL HORSE
1. Daniel Ribeiro - 15.575*
VAULT
9. Paul Ruggeri - 15.750
PARALLEL BARS
1. Paul Ruggeri - 15.750*
HIGH BAR
1. Paul Ruggeri - 15.750*
10. Chris Lung - 12.525br>
*Earn All-America honors
