Results
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – No. 3 Fighting Illini men's gymnastics took down William & Mary and Simpson in dominant fashion, scoring a 410.500 in a Friday night meet in Huff Hall.
William & Mary took second place with a 374.950 while Simpson placed third with a 363.050.
"I am very proud of the guys tonight," head coach Daniel Ribeiro said. "We are in a very good spot heading into our last few meets. It was really awesome seeing the freshman shine tonight. Preston (Ngai) rocked his three events. Vahe (Petrosyan) got his first title of his career on parallel bars and Garrett (Schooley) got his first all-around title.
I, of course, can't leave out Brandon (Dang), earning his fifth pommel horse title, and the highest overall score in the entire meet! We got to see some upgraded routines and our depth showed their A game. This is the hardest working team we have ever had. It's great to see the success of their hard work pay off."
An Illini earned first place in each event for the third time this year: Connor McCool on floor with a 14.700, Brandon Dang on pommel horse with a 14.950, Ashton Anaya on still rings with a 14.400, Amari Sewell on vault with a career-high 14.900, Vahe Petrosyan on parallel bars with a 14.150, Ryan Vanichtheeranont on high bar with a 14.000 and Garrett Schooley in all-around with a 79.400.
Event Breakdown
Floor
Tate Costa earned a notable floor score with a 14.150 with Michael Fletcher right behind him with a 13.800.
Pommel Horse
Will Hauke tallied a solid 14.000 with Preston Ngai taking third place with his career-high 13.900 in his second time competing in the event.
Still Rings
Logan Myers scored a 13.650 behind Anaya, with Ethan Boder taking a 13.550 and Kyle Mayotte scoring a 13.300.
Vault
Following Sewell's career high, Garrett Schooley recorded a 14.700 with Ngai scoring a 14.550 in his first-ever vault performance.
Parallel Bars
Fletcher, just .10 behind Petrosyan, scored a 14.050 with Hauke taking his second 14.000 of the night.
High Bar
Myers finished his night with a respectable 13.800 on high bar, with Fletcher recording a 13.000 in his season debut on the apparatus.
Up Next
The Illini will dive back into conference competition with a Saturday afternoon match up with No. 5 Nebraska on March 10 at 1 p.m. CT in Lincoln, Neb. at the Devaney Center.
