Results (PDF) | Event Finals Start List

COLUMBUS, Ohio – For the second year in a row, the Illinois men's gymnastics team was predicted to finish third in the Big Ten, and for the second-consecutive year, the Orange and Blue brought home a second place finish the Championships. The Fighting Illini were in the lead for much of the evening's competition and produced a final team score of 429.700. Illinois' efforts earned the team nine spots in Saturday's event finals.

The Orange and Blue opened the night on the pommel horse, where the team posted a collective reading of 71.450. Brandon Ngai led the efforts with a 15.450 on the event for first place, marking the eighth title for the sophomore this season. Matt Foster added a 15.000 to take sixth. UI tallied the second-best team score on the event.

Next on the still rings, freshman Alex Diab led the Illini with a score of 15.100, good for a share of a fifth place finish. Max Mayr notched a 14.850 to take a share of ninth, while Dennis Minton posted a 14.500 and took 17th. Illinois finished with a team score of 72.600 on the rings.

The Illini vault squad tallied five-consecutive scores in the 14s on the way to a team score of 72.950. Chandler Eggleston led the way with a 14.950 while Bobby Baker was just behind him with a reading of 14.850. Eggleston's mark earned him fourth place while Baker took eighth.

Illinois held its second place spot following the third rotation, just seven-tenths of a point behind Minnesota.

UI kept up the pace and notched its best team event score of the night through that point, with a 73.000 on parallel bars. The team effort tied the Illini's best mark of the season. Both Johnny Jacobson (15.200) and Foster (14.850) registered career highs on the event. Jacobson notched a share of fifth place while Foster finished ninth.

Diab led the Illini high bar efforts with a 14.000 and finished in 11th place. Tyson Bull finished with a 13.750 for 17th. Illinois combined for a team score of 67.700 on the event.

On the floor, Illinois produced a team effort of 72.000. Diab led the Illini with a score of 14.950 to take 11th place honors. Baker produced a reading of 14.450 for th place. Taylor Smith tallied a 14.350 and Jacobson was just behind him with a 14.300. Logan Bradley rounded out the Illini floor squad with a 13.950.

Illinois finished the meet on the bye rotation. The Orange and Blue were in first place entering the final round of events, owning a 429.700 final team score.

Diab finished seventh in the all-around competition, posting a score of 84.700 in the 11-person field.

Ohio State took home the team title with a final reading of 434.450. The Illini grabbed a second place finish at 429.700, edging Minnesota out by six-tenths of a point (429.100). Penn State took home fourth place at 427.150, while Iowa (426.700), Nebraska (421.450) and Michigan (417.250) rounded out the field.

NEXT UP

Tomorrow, April 2, the Fighting Illini will compete in the in the Big Ten Event Finals. Last season, the Orange and Blue saw three individuals bring home event titles.

In two weeks, the Fighting Illini will return to Columbus, Ohio, where they will compete at the NCAA Championships. Preliminaries sessions will take place on Friday, April 15, and the Team Finals and Event Finals are slated for Saturday evening.

EVENT WINNERS

Pommel horse – Brandon Ngai – 15.450

NOTES

• Brandon Ngai won his eighth pommel horse title of the season and eighth of his career in tonight's Team Championships.
• Illinois earned nine spots in the Big Ten Event Finals, including two in the finals for pommel horse, rings, vault and parallel bars.
• The Illini tied their team parallel bars score with a 73.000 mark at the Team Finals. Matt Foster (14.850) and Johnny Jacobson (15.200) each registered career high scores.
• Four of the seven Illini athletes that earned spots in the Event Finals will be competing in their first Big Ten Event Finals this year (Diab, Ngai, Mayr, Jacobson).
   

EVENT FINALISTS

Floor exercise: Alex Diab
Pommel horse: Brandon Ngai, Matt Foster
Still rings: Alex Diab, Max Mayr
Vault: Chandler Eggleston, Bobby Baker
Parallel bars: Johnny Jacobson, Matt Foster