No. 1 Illinois Advances to Super Six Team Final

Men's Gymnastics April 15, 2010

No. 1 Illinois Advances to Super Six Team Final

April 15, 2010

WEST POINT, N.Y. - The top-ranked Illini men's gymnastics team secured a spot in the "Super Six" team final for the eighth straight year, as it advanced from the afternoon qualifying session Thursday with a second-place finish (354.050). No. 4 Stanford (359.000) and No. 5 Ohio State (346.800) also advanced to Friday's final and will be joined by the top three finishers from the evening session: No. 3 Michigan (359.800), No. 2 Oklahoma (356.400) and No. 6 California (355.000). The team and all-around finals will take place Friday, April 16 at 6 p.m. CT at Christl Arena.

"We had a mediocre meet today, but we're in a great position to do what we came here to do tomorrow," associate head coach Justin Spring said. "We have some huge ground to cover on a variety of events and we'll pick it up tomorrow. I have total faith in their abilities."

The Illini tallied 10 top-five finishes on the day led by junior Daniel Ribeiro who placed first on pommel horse (15.700), while sophomore C.J. Padera took second on parallel bars with a career-high score of 15.200 and also added a third-place finish on pommel horse (14.500) and senior Tyler Williamson placed third on rings (14.950). Junior Paul Ruggeri took fourth place on vault (15.950) and high bar (14.600) and fifth on parallel bars (14.550), while sophomore Tyler Mizoguchi claimed fourth place on parallel bars (14.950) and fifth on floor (15.100) and freshman Yoshi Mori tied for fifth place on high bar (14.400).

Additionally, career highs were set by senior Luke Stannard on vault (15.750) and redshirt junior Chad Wiest, who topped his career high on vault (15.850) and matched it on parallel bars (14.450).

The top-10 finishers from Friday night's team finals will qualify for the NCAA Individual Event Finals set for Saturday, April 17 at 6 p.m. CT. Results will be posted after each rotation HERE and updates also can be found on IlliniGym. Visit fightingillini.com for complete results and recap at the conclusion of each day's events.

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS - TEAM QUALIFIER

SESSION I
1. Stanford 359.000*
2. ILLINOIS 354.050*
3. Ohio State 346.800*
4. Penn State 345.550
5. UIC 333.450
6. Temple 332.700

SESSION II
1. Michigan 359.800*
2. Oklahoma 356.400*
3. California 355.000*
4. Minnesota 350.000
5. Nebraska 343.100
6. Iowa 341.550

*Advance to Team Finals - Friday, April 16 at 6 p.m. CT

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