CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The No. 5 Fighting Illini men's gymnastics team fought hard but fell to the No. 2 Oklahoma Sooners, 403.950-398.650 at Huff Hall on Saturday. The Orange and Blue picked up three event titles on the floor exercise, pommel horse, and the vault on the day.
Three Illini achieved individual event titles on Saturday, including junior Connor McCool on floor (14.150), senior Ian Skirkey on the pommel horse (14.100), and junior Evan Manivog on vault (14.700).
The Fighting Illini did not lead throughout the meet, but came closest after the first rotation when both Illinois and Oklahoma finished with a score of 67.150 on the floor exercise.Â
HOW IT HAPPENED
MEET NOTES
- Junior Connor McCool scored a season-high 14.150 on floor exercise, taking his second event title in the event this season.
- Senior Hamish Carter won the high bar for the third meet in a row with a score of 14.150, a season-high.Â
- Sophomore Will Hauke set a season-best score of 12.700 on pommel horse.
- Senior Ian Skirkey won the pommel horse for the second time on the year with a score of 14.100.
- Graduate Student Jordan Kovach set season-high scores on rings (13.150), marking a .350 improvement from his previous season high set last week vs Ohio State.
- Senior Michael Fletcher set a season high score of 13.100 on the rings.
- Junior Josh Cook had a season-high performance on the rings (12.950)
- Junior Evan Manivog earned his second event title of the season in the vault with a score of 14.700.
- Senior Clay Mason Stephens scored a season-high 13.050 on the parallel bars.
UP NEXT
The Illini return to action in Frisco, Texas on February 25th to compete in the USA Gymnastics Winter Cup.Â
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