CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The No. 5 Fighting Illini men's gymnastics (6-1, 1-0) team will travel to Sarasota, Fla., to compete against Simpson (1-6, 0-2) at the 2024 EVO Elite Collegiate Open.
Not only will the Illini compete against Simpson, but they will also compete against non-sanctioned NCAA teams, including Florida Storm and Georgia United, as well as athletes from the U.S. Senior National Team.
History
With Simpson being officially added to the NCAA in 2023, this is the first time Illinois has faced the Storm in dual action. Illinois did compete against Simpson in the Windy City Invitational in January and defeated them, 404.450-361.250.
Scouting Report
Simpson is coming off breaking four new team records in its loss against Greenville. Freshman Brian Rollison set a career high on rings as well, scoring a 13.200.
Sophomore Michelangelo Villani earned his personal best on vault, 14.200, which is the second-highest vault score in school history.
Senior Sammy Shafransky set personal bests on both of the events he competed in, earning a 12.050 on parallel bars and 12.000 on high bar.
Rankings
Although Illinois upset No. 3 Michigan, the Illini stayed at the No. 5 spot in the Road to Nationals rankings. The ranking system is based off team score and not votes, like in many other NCAA sports.
Illinois has an athlete ranked in every event: Connor McCool is seventh on floor, Brandon Dang is sixth on pommel horse, Ashton Anaya is fourth on still rings, Michael Fletcher is 11th on vault, Will Hauke is 13th on parallel bars and Logan Myers is sixth on high bar.
