Hawkeye Fan Shop — A Black & Gold Store | Hawk Talk Monthly — February | Hawk Talk Daily links
IOWA CITY, Iowa — The 10th-ranked University of Iowa men’s gymnastics team will send senior Jake Brodarzon, sophomore Bennet Huang, and freshman Evan Davis to Las Vegas for the annual Winter Cup Challenge this weekend.
Competition runs from Feb. 15-17 with prelims beginning on Feb. 15. Session one begins at 3 p.m. (CT) followed by session two at 8:30 p.m. (CT). Finals will take place on Feb. 17 at 9:15 p.m. (CT).
The top 42 gymnasts based on all-around placement and points from the Men’s Program Committee will advance to the final competition on Sunday. The top three gymnasts on each rotation will also advance. A combined two-day score will determine the all-around and individual champions.
The competition helps determine the 15 members of 2019 U.S. Men’s Senior National Team. The top four ranked all-around gymnasts will automatically qualify to be a member of the National Team. The eleven other members will be determined by the Men’s Program Committee. The members and alternates of the 2018 Olympic team will automatically qualify as long as they earn national points on both days of competition.
Brodarzon was selected by his results in the senior division of the 2018 U.S. Championships. This season he is ranked No. 13 nationally in the all-around competition. In Brodarzon’s last time out for the Hawkeyes, he garnered a season-best score on high bar (13.050) to tie for 10th and contributed 14.000 (7th) on vault to Iowa’s highest score of the night (70.600). He also added 13.350 (9th) to Iowa’s season-best rings score (66.900).
Huang returns to the Winter Cup for the second year in a row. He was selected based off his performance at the 2018 U.S. Championships. At the 2018 Winter Cup, Huang won the all-around title (77.600) in the Winter Cup junior session prelims. He finished the tournament with a tie for second on high bar (24.850) and posted a second-place finish in the all-around (154.000) and vault (28.350), a third-place finish on floor (26.500), fourth-place finish on rings (25.350), and tied for fifth on pommel horse (25.100). He is currently ranked sixth nationally in the all-around competition.
In his first year for the Hawkeyes, Davis qualified for the Winter Cup based on his performance at the 2018 U.S. Championships. In Davis’s first competition for the Hawkeyes, he placed eighth (78.400) in the all-around competition at the Windy City Invitational. His next time out in his first conference meet against Illinois, he bested his scores in pommel horse (12.850), vault (13.950), and parallel bars (12.950). He ranks No. 10 nationally in the all-around competition.
All three Hawkeyes will begin on floor, beginning at 3 p.m. (CT). Live stats and video links will be available on the men’s gymnastics schedule page on hawkeyesports.com.
