Results
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – For the first time since 2016, four Fighting Illini men's gymnasts won Big Ten titles in the event finals at the 2024 Big Ten Championships Saturday night at State Farm Center.
Connor McCool took the title on floor exercise, Brandon Dang on pommel horse, followed by Ashton Anaya on still rings and Amari Sewell on vault.
"Tonight was a roller coaster," head coach Daniel Ribeiro said." We had a tough start to the night with a few falls. Then we had a serious injury to Evan Manivong. They carried him to the training room and he walked on crutches 5 minutes later to support his teammates. That selfless action lifted our team up and turned the entire meet around. Evan was the turning point of our night. From then on we went and had a record breaking night with four Big Ten Champions! This is truly a special team with 20 special guys and I am so grateful to be leading them."
Second to last up, McCool had to beat a 14.225 to earn his back-to-back status. The graduate student scored a 14.500 on the event and ended up tying with Michigan's Landen Blixt to share the crown.
Dang was the fourth Illini up on pommel horse, needing a 14.525 or better to beat Ohio State's Parker Thackston. The freshman hit his routine and pulled out a 14.800 to earn his first-career Big Ten title.
Anaya was also second to last to compete, needing a 14.125 to beat Michigan's Rithik Puri. In the same uniform he wore from when he won his first Big Ten still rings title, Anaya put up a 14.200 to be a three-peat champion.
The Illini had 16 athletes compete in the individual championships, a status you earn from placing in the top 10 in every event. This is the most individual qualifies in program history and more than any other Big Ten school in the competition.
Preston Ngai was one of five that qualified on pommel horse,scoring 13.575 and placing fourth. Ngai also competed on vault, earning a 14.625 and tying for fourth place.
Ethan Boder and Logan Myers competed on still rings alongside Anaya, both scoring a 13.750 and tying for seventh.
Michael Fletcher and Hauke competed on parallel bars with Hauke scoring a 13.900 and placing fifth. Fletcher tied for third with a 14.050, good enough to earn second-team All-Big Ten.
Sebastian Ingersoll was the lone high bar representative scoring a 13.750 and tying for seventh place.
2024 BIG TEN MEN'S GYMNASTICS HONORS
Freshman of the Year: Brandon Dang, ILL
ALL-BIG TEN FIRST TEAM
Ashton Anaya, ILL
Tate Costa, ILL
Brandon Dang, ILL
Connor McCool, ILL
Amari Sewell, ILL
ALL-BIG TEN SECOND TEAM
Michael Fletcher, ILL
Up next
Illinois will be selected for their session of the 2024 NCAA Championships on Tuesday at 2 p.m. CT, watch live here. The championships themselves will be on April 19-20 on the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio.
