Feb. 21, 2004
IOWA CITY, IA –
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The sixth-ranked Iowa men’s gymnastics team was .025 points short of knocking off top-ranked Illinois Saturday afternoon at the Iowa Field House. Despite winning four event titles, crowning four event champions and taking the top two spots in the all-around competition, the Hawkeyes fell 216.8 – 216.825.
Sophomore Michael Reavis (Tallahassee, FL) was crowned all-around champion, posting a six-event score of 53.475. Sophomore Michael McNamara (Orem, UT) took second in the all-around with a score of 52.85. Both Reavis and McNamara set personal season bests with their all-around scores.
Iowa started out strong on floor exercise, placing three gymnasts in the top four. Reavis and McNamara tied for second place with a score of 9.450. Senior Mike Kelly (Orangevale, CA) took fourth on floor (9.15) while junior Shawn Stone (Wall Lake, IA) finished eighth (8.7).
Iowa then topped Illinois on pommel horse 35.9 – 35.85. Senior Eric Block (Buffalo Grove, IL) was crowned event champion with a score of 9.450, while McNamara came in fourth (8.9). Kelly tied for fifth with a score of 8.8.
Junior Kenny Lin (Sparks, NV) was crowned event-champion on rings (9.35), as the Hawkeyes once again topped the Fighting Illini 36.05- 35.4 in the event Senior Matt Metzger (Cincinnati, OH) took third (9.2) and sophomore Jacques Bouchard (Rio Rancho, NM) finished fifth (8.95).
On vault, the Hawkeyes topped Illinois 36.625- 36.5. Reavis was the Hawkeye’s top performer, scoring a 9.425 to take second place. Metzger and McNamara finished in a tie for fourth (9.1), and freshman Mark Beiler (Waterloo, Ontario) and sophomore Erik Tefteller (San Antonio, TX) tied for sixth (9.0).
The Hawkeyes recorded their fourth event title of the afternoon topping Illinois 35.0- 34.35 on parallel bars. Gaveika finished in a tie for first place with a score of 9.0, while Block recorded an 8.950 to finish third.
On horizontal bar, the Hawkeyes recorded a season-best team score of 36.475. Gaveika was crowned event champion with a score of 9.775 to record his second title of the afternoon. Reavis finished in a tie for third with a score of 9.650.
“I was real happy with our performance this afternoon. We’ve suffered some injuries recently, but we kept it close and kept pressure on Illinois. But we couldn’t quite close the door. We’ve got time to clean up our routines and we’ll be ready for Minnesota,” commented Head Coach Tom Dunn.
The Hawkeyes will travel to Minneapolis, MN, February 28 to take on No. 9 Minnesota.