Dec. 14, 2010

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Illini senior Paul Ruggeri wrapped up a solid weekend of competition with two bronze medals at the Toyota Cup, Dec. 11-12 in Aichi, Japan. Ruggeri was one of three Americans representing the U.S. at the meet and the only one to medal, as the Manlius, N.Y., native took third on floor exercise (15.175) and high bar (15.750).

"Paul is one of the few American gymnasts to win multiple medals at a World Cup meet," Illinois associate head coach Justin Spring said. "He placed third behind the reigning world champion on floor and high bar by only a few tenths each time. Over the last few months, Paul has continually shown that he is one of the best in the world on his four strongest events (floor, vault, parallel bars and high bar). This was an outstanding event for him and I hope this will catapult him into yet another great season for Illinois and then hopefully on to the 2011 World Team."

For the competition, Ruggeri finished in the top five in all four events he competed on, including a fourth-place finish on vault (15.862) and a fifth-place finish on parallel bars (14.750).

The 10-country field included competitors from Australia, China, Finland, France, Great Britain, Germany, Korea, Russia and Japan, in addition to five 2010 World Championship medalists including world all-around champion Kohei Uchimura of Japan; parallel bars champion Feng Zhe and high bar champion Zhang Chenglong, both of China; vault champion Thomas Bouhail of France; floor bronze-medalist Daniel Purvis and pommel horse silver-medalist Louis Smith, both of Great Britain.

For complete results from the 2010 Toyota Cup, click HERE.