Illinois Places Second at Big Ten Championships

10 routines advance to Saturday's event finals

Men's Gymnastics April 5, 2019

Illinois Places Second at Big Ten Championships

10 routines advance to Saturday's event finals

IOWA CITY - The Illinois men's gymnastics team placed second at the Big Ten Championships on Friday night, earning a final team score of 410.100 and falling just short of Penn State's 410.350. The second-place finish at the conference championships is the fourth in five years for the Fighting Illini, who claimed the title a year ago in Ann Arbor.

Led by a 14.200 from Sebastian Quiana, as well as a season-best 13.430 Jacob Light, the Illini secured a 67.950 on floor in the first rotation. After a bye in rotation two, Illinois registered a season-best 68.100 team total on pommel horse using career-best routines from freshman Ian Skirkey and Michael Paradise. Paradise paced all gymnasts at the meet with an impressive 15.100 on the event and freshman Michael Fletcher tied his career high with a 13.500.

Competing for just the second time in the orange and blue, UIC transfer Satchel Hudson came up huge with a 13.700 early in the still rings rotation to get the Illini going. Sophomore Max Diab followed it up with a career-best 14.300 on the event before his brother, Alex Diab, posted a meet-best 14.600. The event title for Alex extends his Illinois program record to 29 still rings titles.

UI went 14-plus on all five vault runs, led by Fletcher's career-high 14.650, to finish with a 71.150 total on the event. Next up was parallel bars and junior Sebastian Quiana exploded for a 14.600, a new career best. Fletcher also contributed a career-high 14.200 to bring the Illini total to 67.450 total. The night was wrapped up on high bar for Illinois, who saw freshman Hamish Carter led the way with a 13.850.

Fletcher, who was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year earlier this week, finished third in all-around competition. His original total of 81.800 (shown in the results), was changed to an 82.700, which marks a career high for the Nashua, N.H., native.

Event Titles

Pommel Horse - Michael Paradise (15.100)

Still Rings - Alex Diab (14.600)