March 10, 2009
IOWA CITY –
THIS WEEK
The No. 11 ranked University of Iowa men’s gymnastics team will travel to West Point, NY, Friday to face the U.S. Military Academy, Springfield College and the College of William & Mary, in a quadrangle meet. Competition is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. in Christl Arena.
TEAM RANKINGS
The Hawkeyes head into the weekend ranked 11th, according to the GymInfo weekly poll, released March 9. The U.S. Military Academy is currently ranked No. 18, Springfield is No. 16 and William & Mary is No. 13.
LAST TIME OUT
The Hawkeyes fell to No. 5 Illinois in Champaign, 353.00 to 337.50. Senior Geoff Reins once again captured first place on both floor exercise (15.25) and vault (16.05). His score on vault broke his previous season record on the event of 15.95. Reid Urbain tied for second on rings with a 14.40, while Ben Ketelsen placed fifth on pommel horse with a 13.90. Captain Jonathan Buese led the Hawkeyes on parallel bars (14.00), placing sixth and horizontal bar (13.80), placing fourth.
HAWKEYE ACHIEVEMENTS
Hawkeye senior Geoff Reins was selected as Big Ten Gymnast of the Week March 2, along with Casey Sandy of Penn State. The Buffalo, Grove, IL, native earned the honor after scoring two individual wins in the matchup against Illinois Feb. 28. This selection marks the second weekly accolade for Reins, who won his first award March 19, 2008, and the first for Iowa this season.
HEAD COACH Tom Dunn
In his 30th year at Iowa, Head Coach Tom Dunn, has recorded a 213-113-2 record at Iowa. In 1998 and 2006, Dunn was named Big Ten Coach of the Year and College Gymnastics Association Central Region Coach of the Year. He has led the Hawkeyes to 17 top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships. Iowa has competed at the NCAA meet 17 of the past 22 seasons. Dunn has also coached 32 individuals to 64 all-America honors and 20 gymnasts to 32 Big Ten titles.
QUOTING COACH DUNN
“We should get some guys back this week, and we will cross our fingers that no one else gets ill before we head East. For the first time all season we will meet some teams outside the top 10. While our primary objective will be to get a score that will help us qualify for the NCAA Championships, some victories wouldn’t hurt as we prepare mentally and physically for the upcoming Big Ten Championships.”