March 20, 2004
CHAMPAIGN, IL –
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The sixth-ranked University of Iowa men’s gymnastics team had four student-athletes compete in the Big Ten Championships event finals Saturday evening. The competition was held in Huff Hall.
Senior Eric Block (Buffalo Grove, IL) and sophomore Michael McNamara (Orem, UT) were the Hawkeyes’ top performers. McNamara took second on floor exercise with a score of 9.475. Block took second on parallel bars with a score of 8.925, finishing .025 points out of first place. He also recorded a seventh-place finish on pommel horse with a score of 8.3.
Sophomore Michael Reavis (Tallahassee, FL) also performed well for the Hawkeyes, recording two top-five finishes on the evening. He tied for third on vault with a score of 9.4, and took fourth on horizontal bar with a score of 9.4. Defending Big Ten horizontal bar champion Linas Gaveika (Vilnius, Lithuania) did not fare well in the event finals, finishing in fourth on pommel horse (9.2) and sixth on horizontal bar (8.7).
“We have a lot of room for improvement and will look to peak at the NCAA Championships next weekend,” commented Head Coach Tom Dunn.
It appears that Iowa has locked up a position in the NCAA qualifier, April 2, in Champaign, IL. The top 12 teams compete for six spots in the NCAA Championships.