April 4, 2005
THIS WEEK — The seventh-ranked University of Iowa men’s gymnastics team will travel to West Point, NY, Friday to compete in the NCAA Qualifier. The Hawkeyes will be one of six teams competing in Session II of the qualifying competition at 7 p.m. in the U.S. Military Academy’s Holleder Center. Session I begins at 1 p.m. with the other six qualifying teams competing. The top three teams from each qualifying session will advance to the NCAA Championships Friday and Saturday. Competition will begin at 7 p.m. Friday to determine the team and all-around champion, while the top eight individuals on each event will compete in the event championships Saturday at 7 p.m.
TICKET INFORMATION — All-session tickets are $32, while single-session tickets are $8 for Sessions I and II and $10 for Sessions III and IV. Tickets may be purchased by contacting the Army Ticket Office at 1-877-TIX-ARMY or by logging onto www.goarmysports.com and following the “Tickets” link.
QUALIFYING SESSIONS — The top three teams for each of Friday’s qualifying sessions will advance to Saturday’s team finals. The following is the session breakdown:
Session I — 1:00 p.m.
No. 1 Ohio State
No. 4 Michigan
No. 5 Penn State
No. 8 Stanford
No. 9 Minnesota
No. 12 William & Mary
Session II — 7:00 p.m.
No. 2 Illinois
No. 3 Oklahoma
No. 6 California
No. 7 IOWA
No. 10 Nebraska
No. 11 Army
IOWA IN NCAA HISTORY — The Hawkeyes have finished in the top five 15 times. Iowa’s only NCAA title came in 1969. If the Hawkeyes advance to the team championships, it will mark the 36th time the program has done so. Iowa has crowned 11 individual champions in the history of the program, with the most recent being Linas Gaveika in the horizontal bar in 2003. Gaveika and Michael Reavis were all-Americans last year, as the Hawkeyes placed seventh in the team competition.
IOWA VS. THE COMPETITION — The Hawkeyes are ranked seventh out of the 12 teams competing, and have competed against nine of the teams this season. Iowa recorded a fifth-place finish at the 2005 Big Ten Championships, behind Ohio State, Illinois, Michigan and Penn State but defeated Minnesota. Iowa also defeated Minnesota in dual competition, but fell to Michigan, Nebraska, Illinois and Oklahoma. Iowa opened the 2005 season with a fourth-place finish at the Windy City Invitational, behind Illinois, Ohio State and Michigan. Minnesota finished fifth. At the West Point Open, Penn State took the title and Iowa came in second. Nebraska and Army took third and fourth, respectively.
QUOTING HEAD COACH Tom Dunn — “The team is anxious and ready to compete. We plan to switch a couple of guys around from our Big Ten line up and we hope the result will put us into the NCAA finals Friday night. Everyone knows it will take everything we’ve got to accomplish that goal, but I think the team is ready to put it all together.”
IOWA IN THE RANKINGS — In the latest GymInfo rankings (March 28), the Hawkeyes remained in seventh place nationally. As a team, the Hawkeyes are ranked in the top 10 in all six individual events. The Hawkeyes are the fifth-ranked team on horizontal bar, sixth on floor exercise and pommel horse, seventh on rings, eighth on vault and 10th on parallel bars.
NATIONALLY-RANKED INDIVIDUALS — Hawkeye junior Michael Reavis leads the Hawkeyes in the rankings. Reavis is second on floor exercise, third in the all-around, eighth on horizontal bar and tied for eighth on vault. Senior Linas Gaveika is ranked fifth in the all-around and on horizontal bar and 13th on pommel horse. Junior Michael McNamara is eighth on floor exercise and 14th in the all-around while senior Kenny Lin is 16th on rings. Freshman Curtis Kleffman is 19th on pommel horse.
IOWA TAKES FIFTH AT BIG TENS — The Hawkeyes took fifth place at the 2005 Big Ten Championships, scoring a school record 219.8 points. Michael Reavis was crowned Big Ten floor exercise champion and took fifth in the all-around competition. He was named to the First Team all-Big Ten. Senior Linas Gaveika took fifth on horizontal bar and finished in sixth place in the all-around. He was also named to the all-Big Ten first team. Senior Kenny Lin was fourth on rings while freshman Jacob Becker placed eighth on pommel horse.
HAWKS HIT THE RECORD BOOKS — The 2005 Hawkeye squad smashed the record books, setting six individual and two team marks. Iowa broke two records at the Big Ten Championships alone, setting a rings record of 37.425 while junior Michael Reavis set a floor exercise record of 9.762. Reavis also holds Iowa records on vault (9.7) and in the all-around (54.825). On vault, Iowa posted a record 37.4 at the West Point Open. Senior Kenny Lin broke his previous record of 9.55 with a 9.7 performance on rings against Illinois. Sophomore Matt Beiler scored a record-breaking 9.4 on parallel bars against Oklahoma.
REAVIS SHINES FOR THE HAWKEYES — After an already impressive season, junior Michael Reavis added a Big Ten title to his long list of accomplishments. He was crowned Big Ten floor exercise champion with a school-record score of 9.762. Reavis is nationally ranked in three events and the all-around heading into the NCAA Championships. He is currently second on floor exercise, third in the all-around, eighth on horizontal bar and tied for eighth on vault. He also holds three University of Iowa records, all of which he set this season. Against Oklahoma, Reavis posted a record-breaking all-around score of 54.825 and set the vault record of 9.7 against Minnesota.