COLLEGE ASSOCIATION BIG TEN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS CONFERENCE CGA WEEKLY REPORT April 3-4, 2009 By Jerry Wright

University of Illinois

University of Daryl Marshke/Wolverine Photo Michigan

a great job on their home performance on the still to claim the title. and they had a good They did just that, as Mizoguichi started the Illini performance." off on the right foot, scoring an impressive 14.75, a Illinois began the cham- career-high. Nick Stango made his last Big Ten pionships on , where they tallied a 61.35. Championships count, posting another career high NOTE: To say there was fireworks at the Paul Ruggeri led the way, coming in fourth with a for the Illini with a 14.70. Next up, Tyler William- Big Ten Meet would be an understatement. score of 15.60, followed by Roger Pasek’s score son put together his strongest ring set this season, First Illinois was announced as the outright of 15.35 and freshman C.J. Padera's 15.30. The scoring a 15.00 to tie for fifth place on the event. winner and then an apparent change in the Orange and Blue led the first rotation by 2.5 points Freshman Anthony Sacramento posted his second- judges scores gave Michigan an additional 0.6 ahead of Ohio State and Michigan. highest rings score of the season, 14.65, to give the points and a tie for first. Then Chris Cameron The Illini moved on to in the second Illini the final push for the Big Ten title. was announced as the AA champion and later rotation where they scored a 58.20. Freshman Ty- Illinois scored a season-high 59.100 on rings and his teammate Thomas Kelley was named ler Mizoguichi hit a career-high 15.05 on p-bars for that, combined with Michigan's 56.750 on parallel champion with Cameron runner-up. first place to lead the Orange and Blue. Ruggeri bars, was enough to give the Fighting Illini a share was not far behind, finishing in fourth place, with a of the title.

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 14.75. Brian Loscovitz tied for eighth place with Individual Event Qualifiers:Paul Ruggeri - FX, a score of 14.35 . VT, PB, HB, Daniel Ribeiro – PH, Luke Stannard- Illinois came from behind to win its first Big Ten In the third rotation, the Illini headed to high bar PH, Chris Lung – PH, Tyler Williamson – SR, team championship since 2004 in thrilling fashion where Ruggeri, the reigning NCAA champion on Tyler Mizoguchi - PB, FX, SR, Brian Liscovitz - Friday night at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich., the event, scored a team high 15.45 to place sec- PB, HB. behind a team score of 357.10. The Illini made a ond. Liscovitz tied for fifth on high bar with a In the event finals: FX: Ruggeri-1st, Mizoguchi- dramatic comeback in the final rotation to share the 14.55. The Illini as a team scored a 58.10 on the 7th; PH: Stannard-1st, Padera-3rd, Lung-4th, title with Michigan. The Orange and Blue trailed event. After three rotations, the Illini sat in the Ribeiro-6th; SR: Williamson-4th, Stango-6th; V: the Wolverines by 2.35 points heading into the last middle of the pack with a team score of 177.65, Ruggeri-4th; PB: Ruggeri-1st, Mizoguchi-7th; HB: event and strung together their highest total on still behind Michigan (179.25) and Ohio State (179.05). Ruggeri-3rd, Liscovitz-8th. rings this season, 59.10, to catch the hosts and Ruggeri continued to lead the Illini into the claim the Big Ten Championship trophy. fourth rotation as they moved to the floor exercise. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN "It was a classic Big Ten finish," Illinois head He scored a 15.30, the second-highest score of the For the first time since 2000, the University of coach Yoshi Hayasaki said. "The best part about night on floor. Mizoguichi and Daniel Ribeiro each Michigan earned the Big Ten title -- sharing the tonight was that our guys were behind all evening scored 14.95's to add to the Illini team total of honor with Illinois with a score of 357.10 -- on and didn't give up. They kept fighting. It was so 60.05. Ruggeri ended up taking fourth in the all- Friday night (April 3) at Crisler Arena. The Wol- great to see our last three events coming back to around competition with a score of 86.85. verines preseason All-Big Ten honorees, Thomas win the title. I expected a close competition, but I In the fifth rotation, the Illini headed to their top Kelley and Chris Cameron, outperformed the en- didn't expect it to be this close. We are champions team event, . Ranked No. 1 in the tire field, closing the night in first (89.35) and sec- and neither team had to lose. I think Michigan did nation heading into the championships, the Fighting Illini did not disappoint the KELLEY faithful fans who traveled to Ann Arbor, posting a score of 60.30, the highest team total on the event all eve- ning. Ribeiro and Luke Stannard ranked No. 1 and 2 in the conference, posted scores of 15.70 and 15.40 on the event for first and second place. RUGGERI The Illini were in second place heading into the final rotation, 2.35 points behind the host Wolverines, and Continued next page would need a spectacular See page 3 for individual results

ond (89.10) in the all-around, respectively. Two Buckeyes finished in the Top 6 of the all- Friday night at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich. Michigan ended up with the most individual around, earning All-Big Ten status. Jake Bateman The fourth-place finish was one notch above the event qualifiers (10) with Kelly (FX, SR, PB, HB), placed third with an 88.55 while freshman Philip Gophers' 2007 fifth-place finish. Minnesota fin- Cameron (FX, PH, SR, PB, HB), Ralph Rosso Onorato took sixth with an 82.65. Onorato’s tally, ished with a total of 348.000 points. Michigan and (FX, SR), Adam Hamers (PH), David Chan (PH) the best by a rookie at the meet, helps his campaign Illinois tied for the team title with a score of Paul Woodward (PH), Phil Goldberg (SR), Ben for freshman of the year honors. 357.100. Baldus-Strauss (V), Ryan McCarthy (PB, HB), and In the all-around competition, Minnesota's Aaron Joe Catrambone (HB). Fortunato took fifth place, good enough to earn All As a team, Michigan tabbed a season high in its BATEMAN -Big Ten honors. He was seventh in the all-around first three rotations of the night -- at last year's conference championship. (59.30), floor exercise (60.15) and pommel horse Advancing to Saturday's individual event finals (59.80) and shattered U-M season individual bests were Cole Storer (floor exercise, vault); Kit Beik- on the same three events. mann (pommel horse); Aaron Fortunato (parallel Cameron earned a new career high on high bar bars, high bar); and Russell Dabritz (parallel bars). with a 14.55, while Kelley set a career best -- as The Gophers opened Friday's competition on the well as a team season high -- on the apparatus with pommel horse and posted one of their top three a evening-high of 15.65. Despite the high marks, scores of the season on the apparatus. Beikmann, a the Wolverines stood at fourth place at the end of pommel horse specialist, led Minnesota in the the first rotation. Ohio State began the championships on rings event with a 14.75 score. All told, the Gophers put The squad jumped up a spot into third after with a first-place 59.95 total. The Buckeyes swept together a 56.65 score on the apparatus. strong performances on the floor in the second the Top 3 finishes on rings. Brandon Wynn, In the second rotation, the Gophers moved on to rotation, possessing a running total of 119.45. U-M ranked first in the Big Ten and third in the nation the event they have struggled most with this season trailed second-place Illinois by a tenth of a point at heading into the event, led the field with an event- -- the still rings. The Gophers tallied a 57.10 on the 119.55 and first-place Ohio State led the field at winning 15.15 mark. Onorato and Bateman started rings, their lowest total on the apparatus since late 122.05. Cameron garnered an evening-high 15.450 their all-around campaigns, taking second and January. Dabritz led the way for Minnesota with a on floor exercise -- -- while Kelley chipped in a third, respectively. Onorato posted a 15.10 while 14.60. From there, Minnesota moved on to the 15.20. Bateman tied for third with a 15.05. vault, one of their strongest events this season. The Cameron then tabbed a 15.20 on pommel horse.. In the second rotation, the squad earned a 62.10 Gophers has posted four consecutive scores of Chan set a season best (15.00) and Woodward on vault. Leading Ohio State with a third-place 62.45 or better coming into the Big Ten Champion- earned a career-high 15.00 on the apparatus to help score of 15.70 was Onorato while Pejman Ebra- ships. But Friday's total came in at 61.50. Storer's push the Wolverines to the top of the standings himi tied for fifth with a 15.55. Ohio State had 15.80 score was Minnesota's top performance. with 179.25 points. three more Buckeyes score above a 15.0 in Bate- Rotation four saw the Gophers on the parallel The Maize and Blue succeeded once again on the man, 15.45 (7T), Wynn, 15.40 , and Justin Myers, bars. Dabritz put up Minnesota's second-best indi- still rings in the fourth rotation, with Rosso’s 14.90 15.10. vidual score of the season on the bars, tallying a on the event, while Kelley tabbed a 15.00, U-M A pair of Buckeyes, Shachar Tal and Bateman, 15.05. With solid scores from Fortunato, Thomas collected 59.850 points on rings, giving it 239.10 brought the Ohio State fan contingent to its feet points in all -- good enough to maintain its top with two solid parallel bars routines. Going fourth spot. in the lineup, Tal received a 14.55, to place fifth. In the fifth rotation, Illinois narrowed its deficit Using the momentum, Bateman boosted the Buck- FORTUNATO with Michigan to 2.35 points, 300.35-298.00. The eyes to a third-place 57.00 total with a 14.80, the Wolverines garnered a 61.25 on vault, which was meet’s third-best score. highlighted by Baldus-Strauss' 15.45. Kelley On high bar, Bateman led the squad with a fourth- earned a 15.40. place 14.70 and Regan contributed a 14.00 as the Despite struggling slightly on the parallel bars in Buckeyes posted a 55.50 event tally. the last rotation, the Wolverines performed well Onorato started the FX scoring with a 14.25 and enough to hold onto a share of the conference the scores kept increasing from there. Bateman crown. Kelley earned the squad's highest score on and Eddie Hay then scored the team’s two best the event 14.70, although it did not count toward scores with an eighth-place 15.00 and 13th-place the team's total because he competed in an all- (tied) 14.90, respectively. O'Brien and Andre Berry, the Gophers ended up around exhibition. Cameron tabbed a 14.45 on the The Buckeyes finished the meet on the hardest with their second-best team score of the season on p-bars, and McCarthy was awarded a 14.40 for his event in gymnastics, pommel horse, earning a solid the parallel bars. In the fifth rotation, Fortunato led routine, rounding out U-M's top performers. 56.40, just one-tenth shy of the team’s season high. the way with a 14.40 on the high bar. Ali Aleiou In the event finals: FX: Cameron-2nd; PH: Ham- Ty Echard gave OSU a 15.00 mark, just three and Dabritz both scored 14.00 or better, but the ers-5th, Chan-7th; SR: Goldberg-1st, Rosso-7th, tenths of a point shy of his career best, to tie for Gophers still had their fourth-lowest score of the Kelley-8th; V: Baldus-Strauss-8th; PB: Kelley-3rd, 4th. Andy Saurber added a season high 14.30 and season. McCarthy-8th; HB: Catrambone-1st, Kelley-2nd, finished tied for 12th. McCarthy-3rd. In the event finals: FX: Bateman-4th; PH: Echard Continued next page -8th; SR: Onorato-2nd, Wynn-3rd, Bateman-5th; OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY V: Onorato-2nd, Bateman-6th; PB: Tal-4th, Bate- Ohio State extended its streak of Top 3 finishes man-6th; HB: Bateman-7th. at the Big Ten Championships to 22 in a row Fri- day, finishing third for a second-consecutive year UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA with a tally of 349.90 in Crisler Arena on the Uni- The University of Minnesota took fourth place at versity of Michigan campus. the Big Ten Men's Gymnastics Championships In the final rotation, Minnesota hit the floor exer- cise. Storer led the way with a 15.25, as the Go- phers tallied a 59.45. It was the fourth-best team score of the season for Minnesota. Adam Reichow, Eddie Campbell and Fortunato were the other three scoring members for the Gophers with respective scores of 14.90, 14.70 and 14.60. In the event finals FX: Storer-6th; PH: Biekmann -2nd; V: Repp-5th, Storer-7th; PB: Dabritz-2nd; HB: Fortunato-6th.

PENN STATE UNIVERSITY Competing with an injury-hobbled Casey Sandy and without the services of top freshman Miguel Pineda a beleaguered Penn State men's gymnastics team placed fifth in the team finals of the 2009 Big Ten Championships at host Michi- gan's Crisler Arena on Friday evening. Casey Sandy, the 2008 Big Ten All-Around Champion and Big Ten Gymnast of the Year, was unable to complete the defense of his conference title after suffering a foot injury on his still rings dismount. Determined not to let his team down, Sandy attempted his vault in the next rotation but REINS could not finish it. Continuing to fight through the pain, he managed to perform his parallel bars rou- tine, scoring a 14.35, good enough for a three-way tie for ninth place, but landed hard on his injured foot upon dismount. Not wanting to risk further damage, the seven-time All-American forewent competing in the high bar, one of his best events. Miguel Pineda, one of Penn State's top pommel horse and still rings competitors, broke his hand during preparations for the Big Ten Champion- ships and will miss the remainder of the season. Penn State scored below its season average in five of six events and set season lows in the pom- mel horse (51.05) and vault (61.45). "Well, we really struggled tonight," said Penn State head coach Randy Jepson. "We came out of the blocks and were a little bit rough on floor, but we missed every pommel horse routine. It was tough to rebound from that. We will hopefully get healthier for a rebound for the NCAAs." Nick Virbitsky was superb in leading the Nittany Lions, placing third in the floor exercise (tie, 15.25), fifth in the vault (tie, 15.55), and seventh in the high bar (tie, 14.50). In the event finals: FX: Harris-5th, Virbitsky-8th; VIRBITSKY V: Virtbitsky-3rd; HB: Anto- nio-5th.

UNIVERSITY OF IOWA The University of Iowa placed sixth in the 2009 Big Ten Championships Friday, with a final score of 337.75. Geoff Reins came out strong, holding the top two finishes of the night, including a first place, for the Hawkeyes. Reins placed sixth on floor exercise (15.15) and on vault, Reins grabbed a first place win with a 16.25, a score that ties his season best for 2009. His performance moves him into the Big Ten individual event finals in each of his events. In the event finals FX: Reins-3rd; V: Reins-1st. COLLEGE GYMNASTICS ASSOCIATION SPECIAL REPORT Big Ten Conference Championships April 3-4, 2009 University of Michigan

TEAM SCORES KELLEY 1 Illinois 357.10 1 Michigan 357.10 3 Ohio State 349.90 4 Minnesota 348.00 5 Penn State 340.80 6 Iowa 337.75 ALL AROUND 1 Thomas Kelley, Mich 89.350 2 Chris Cameron, Mich 89.100 3 Jake Bateman, OSU 88.550 4 Paul Ruggeri, ILL 86.850 5 Aaron Fortunato, Minn 85.950 6 Philip Onorato, OSU 82.650 7 DJ Repp, Minn 81.750 8 Noam Shaham, Penn. St. 81.550 REINS FLOOR EXERCISE 1 Paul Ruggeri , ILL 15.625 2 Chris Cameron, Mich 15.025 3 Geoff Reins, Iowa 14.925 4 Jake Bateman, OSU 14.875 5 Allen Harris, Penn St. 14.825 6T Cole Storer, Minn 14.725 6T Tyler Mizoguchi, ILL 14.725 RUGGERI 8 Nick Virbitsky, Penn St. 14.675 POMMEL HORSE 1. Luke Stannard, ILL 15.275 2 Kit Beikmann, Minn 14.70 3. C.J. Padera, ILL 14.575 4. Chris Lung, ILL 14.475 5 Adam Hamers, Mich 14.425 6. Daniel Ribeiro, ILL 14.22 7 David Chan, Mich 14.00 8 Ty Echard, OSU 13.60 RINGS 1 Philip Goldberg, Mich 15.325 2 Philip Onorato, OSU 15.275 3 Brandon Wynn, OSU 15.250 4. Tyler Williamson, ILL 15.225 5 Jake Bateman, OSU 15.025 CATRAMBONE 6. Nick Stango, ILL 14.825 7 Ralph Rosso, Mich 14.75 8 Thomas Kelley, Mich 14.725 VAULT 1 Geoff Reins, Iowa 16.125 STANNARD 2 Philip Onorato, OSU 16.00 3 Nick Virbitsky, Penn St. 15.90 4. Paul Ruggeri, ILL 15.850 5 D.J. Repp, Minn 15.80 6 Jake Bateman, OSU 15.675 7 Cole Storer, Minn 15.60 8 Ben Baldus-Strauss, Mich 15.575 PARALLEL BARS HORIZONTAL BAR 1. Paul Ruggeri, ILL 15.100 2 Russell Dabritz, Minn 15.05 1 Joe Catrambone, Mich 15.075 3 Thomas Kelley, Mich 14.750 2 Thomas Kelley, Mich 14.975 T3 Paul Ruggeri, ILL 14.575 GOLDBERG 4 Shachar Tal, OSU 14.725 5. Brian Liscovitz, ILL 14.550 3T Ryan McCarthy, Mich 14.757 6 Jake Bateman, OSU 14.525 5 Shaun Antonio, Penn St. 14.25 7 Tyler Mizoguchi, ILL 14.508 6 Aaron Fortunato, Minn 14.20 8 Ryan McCarthy, Mich 14.450 7 Jake Bateman, OSU 14.15 8. Brian Liscovitz, ILL 13.775