March 1, 2005
THIS WEEK — The sixth-ranked University of Iowa men’s gymnastics team will travel to Champaign, IL, Saturday, to take on No. 2 Illinois and a college All-Star team from Japan. The meet is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in Huff Hall.
THE FIGHTING ILLINI — The defending Big Ten Champions are 10-1-1 this season, falling only to then No. 7 California at the Pacific Coast Invitational. The Illini also battled the current No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes to a tie in January. Led by four returning all-Americans and one national champion, Illinois took top honors at the Windy City Invitational and defeated Big Ten foes Minnesota and Penn State earlier this season. Junior Justin Spring returns as the defending 2004 NCAA horizontal bar champion, an all-American on parallel bars and horizontal bar and the defending 2004 Big Ten floor exericse champion. Seniors Peter Shostchuk and Ben Newman were all-Americans on pommel horse in 2004 while junior Adam Pummer was an all-American on floor exercise and valut. The Fighting Illini are coached by Yoshi Hayasaki, who is in his 29th year with the program.
LAST TIME OUT — Iowa fell to then-No. 10 Nebraska 215.325- 214.15, but defeated the Wisconsin Badgers’ club team. Junior Michael Reavis took fourth in the all-around (52.7), was crowned event champion on vault (9.5), took second on horizontal bar (9.25), and finished fourth on both floor exercise (8.8) and parallel bars (8.8). Michael McNamara was fifth in the all-around (50.850) and took fifth on horizontal bar with a personal season-best score of 8.9. Senior Shawn Stone was crowned champion on floor exercise (9.2), while Kenny Lin took the rings title (9.55) and Linas Gaveika was the top performer on horizontal bar (9.55).
NATIONAL RANKINGS — The Iowa men’s gymnastics team is remained in sixth place in the GymInfo national rankings. As a team, the Hawkeyes are ranked in the top ten in all six individual events. Iowa is the fourth-ranked team on floor exercise, sixth on horizontal bar, eighth on rings and vault, and ninth on parallel bars and pommel horse.
NATIONALLY-RANKED INDIVIDUALS — Reavis leads the Hawkeyes in the rankings. He is the No. 2 competitor on floor exercise, tied for fourth on vault, fifth in the all-around and tied for seventh on horizontal bar. McNamara is 10th on floor exercise and 16th in the all-around, while freshman Curtis Kleffman is 11th on pommel horse. Gaveika is ranked sixth on horizontal bar, while Lin is tied for ninth on rings and Matt Beiler is tied for 19th on parallel bars. HEAD
COACH Tom Dunn — Head Coach Tom Dunn is in his 25th year at Iowa. He has compiled a 187-79-2 record. In 1998, Dunn was named Big Ten Coach of the Year and CGA Central Region Coach of the Year. He has led the Hawkeyes to 18 top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships. Iowa has competed at the NCAA meet 18 of the past 21 seasons. Dunn has also coached 29 individuals to 58 all-America honors and 19 gymnasts to 31 Big Ten titles.
NEXT COMPETITION — The Hawkeyes will remain on the road, traveling to Norman, OK, to take on No. 4 Oklahoma on Friday, March 11.