April 4, 2004
CHAMPAIGN, IL – Two individuals from the sixth-ranked Iowa men’s gymnastics team (8-6 overall, 3-4 Big Ten) qualified for the individual event championships held this afternoon at 2 p.m. in Champaign, IL. Hawkeye junior Linas Gaveika will compete on parallel bars and horizontal bar, while sophomore Michael Reavis will compete on vault. The top eight individuals on each event earned the right to compete for a national title and All-American status.
In the all-around finals, Gaveika took seventh place with a score of 54.375, breaking the University of Iowa record of 53.975 that he set earlier this season. Reavis finished in ninth place with a six-event score of 53.850.
Gaveika and Reavis were the only Hawkeyes to qualify for the event finals. Gaveika was crowned event champion on horizontal bar with a score of 9.875, breaking the University of Iowa record he set earlier this season. He also placed sixth on parallel bars with a score of 9.1. Reavis finished in a tie for eighth on vault with a score of 9.5.
Seniors Eric Block, Mike Kelly and Matt Metzger, as well as sophomores Michael McNamara and Bryan Bourland, junior Shawn Stone and freshman Matt Beiler all competed for the Hawkeyes but failed to advance to the individual event championships. Block finished in a tie for 13th on pommel horse (9.35) and in a tie for 20th on parallel bars (8.8), while McNamara finished in a tie for 46th on parallel bars (7.9) and took 39th on horizontal bar (8.8). Stone finished in a tie for 39th on floor exercise (8.75), Kelly finished in a tie for 15th on pommel horse, Beiler took 44th on vault (8.7), Metzger tied for 39th on parallel bars (8.4) and Bourland tied for 31st on horizontal bar (8.95).
The Individual Event Championships are set to begin at 2 p.m. today at Assembly Hall in Champaign, IL.