March 30, 2005
IOWA CITY, IA – The seventh-ranked Iowa men’s gymnastics team has qualified for the 2005 NCAA men’s championships with a qualifying score of 218.65. The Hawkeyes enter the competition ranked seventh, behind Ohio State (224.15), Illinois (222.905), Oklahoma (222.88), Michigan (220.925), Penn State (219.89) and California (219.18).
The NCAA championships consists of 12 teams divided into two pre-qualifying sessions. The two pre-qualifying sessions will be conducted April 7 at Holleder Center on the campus of the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, NY. All six Big Ten schools qualified for the championships.
The top three teams from each pre-qualifying session will advance to the finals session. Also advancing to the finals session are the top three all-around competitors not on one of the qualifying teams, plus the top three individuals on each event not already qualified on a team or as an all-around competitor. Final competitions will take place April 8-9, also in West Point.
The Hawkeyes are coming off a fifth place finish at the 2005 Big Ten championships. Junior Michael Reavis was crowned Big Ten floor exercise champion and is currently ranked second nationally in the event. In 2004, the Hawkeyes took seventh at the NCAA championships and had three all-Americans. Senior Linas Gaveika will look to repeat as an all-American on parallel bars and horizontal bar. He is currently ranked fifth on horizontal bar and fifth in the all-around. Reavis was an all-American on vault in 2004.
For more information regarding the National Collegiate Men’s Gymnastics Championships, log on to http://www.ncaasports.com.
NCAA National Qualifier:
Team
Ohio State, 224.150
Illinois, 222.905
Oklahoma, 222.880
Michigan, 220.925
Penn State, 219.890
California, 219.180
IOWA, 218.650
Stanford, 216.230
Minnesota , 215.935
Nebraska, 215.755
Army, 214.235
William & Mary, 210.200