CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – This weekend's meet against the Nittany Lions is slated for Saturday, Jan. 30, at 3 p.m. CT in University Park, Pennsylvania. This will be the first meeting between Penn State and the Illini since the Big Ten Championships held at Rec Hall last March. The Orange and Blue will look to avenge their loss by six-tenths of a point to the Nittany Lions at the Big Ten Team Finals. Illinois trails Penn State in the all-time series record, winning 32 meetings to 56 by PSU.
LAST WEEKEND: IOWA CITY
Illinois Men's Gymnastics took down the Hawkeyes to improve to 7-0 on the young 2016 season last weekend, marking the 150th victory over Iowa in program history. The Illini claimed four titles as Chandler Eggleston (floor, vault), Bobby Baker (parallel bars) and Brandon Ngai (pommel horse) each added to their tallies. UI inched out the win by a final score of 431.150-430.850 for the second-consecutive meet decided by three-tenths or less.
FINISHING STRONG
Trailing by over half a point entering the final rotation, the Fighting Illini parallel bars unit secured the victory, hitting a perfect 6-of-6 routines in Iowa City. On top of that, all six gymnasts posted a season-best score while three individuals hit personal bests (Chandler Eggleston, Matt Foster, Johnny Jacobson). Bobby Baker anchored the efforts, scoring a 15.200 to earn a share of the event title. Illinois' team mark of 73.000 is the best mark for the Orange and Blue on the season.
WINDY CITY INVITATIONAL
At the Windy City Invitational on Jan. 17, Illinois became back-to-back champions at the event for just the second time in program history. The victory marked the sixth time the Fighting Illini won the event since it was first held during the 1976-77 season. Illinois has won four Windy City Invitational titles under Justin Spring. 2003 was the last time that the Fighting Illini placed outside of the top two teams in the field. UI has claimed the title in: 1988, 2005, 2010, 2011, 2015 and 2016.
AN OPENING DAY FOR THE BOOKS
Illinois' team score of 432.500 against UIC marked the best season-debut score for the Orange and Blue in program history. UI bested the previous top opening-day mark by well over three points.
POMMEL HORSE UPGRADES
The Orange and Blue turned in the best team pommel horse score in program history against UIC in its 2016 opener, racking up a 74.750, the 11th-best team score ever recorded in the NCAA on the event at the time. UI had a trio of gymnasts score 15.150 or better, the best mark any gymnast had scored on the event in all of 2015. Logan Bradley led the efforts with a career high of 15.350 with Brandon Ngai right behind him at 15.300. Bobby Baker added a 15.150.
BRANDON NGAI EXUDES EXCELLENCE
As Justin Spring said following the Windy City Invitational, Brandon Ngai is exuding excellence on the pommel horse. The 17-year-old sophomore produced Illinois' best score on the event in five seasons with a 15.550 at the Windy City Invitational. The last time a score of equal or greater value was achieved was when now Associate Head Coach Daniel Ribeiro was a senior and won the 2011 NCAA Pommel Horse title with the same mark. Ngai currently owns the highest score and best average (15.400) across the NCAA.
BOBBY BAKER CONTINUES TO RISE
With titles on the rings and high bar in Illinois' season-opening meet against UIC, Bobby Baker became just the 10th gymnast in program history to win a title in all six events (FX, PH, SR, VT, PB, HB) along with at least one all-around crown. Baker became the quickest Illini to accomplish the feat, winning all seven by the end of the opening meet of his second year of competition. Baker accumulated all seven titles in just 18 competitions.
BIG TEN PRESEASON POLL
In the Big Ten Pre-Season poll, Illinois was picked to finish third in the league for the third-consecutive season. The Fighting Illini claimed a second-place finish at last year's Big Ten Championships, falling just six-tenths of a point short to the host, Penn State. Baker and Eggleston were named as Illinois' "Gymnasts to Watch".
RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS
This season, Justin Spring returns five athletes that account for eight All-America accolades between them. Logan Bradley, Chandler Eggleston and Bobby Baker have each claimed a pair of honors while Fred Hartville and Joey Peters have each been honored as well.
Hartville won the NCAA Vault title his freshman campaign while Eggleston finished second on both the vault and floor his rookie season.
CAREER TITLE COUNT
Hartville claimed four vault titles last season to up his career count to 13 titles on the apparatus. He currently resides in a tie for the fifth spot for all-time vault titles with Gilberto Albuquerque. Hartville also holds a spot on the single-season vault titles list with eight, back in 2013 to share fifth place with Charlie Lakes and Hal Shaw.
In 2014, Eggleston notched six titles to move into a six-way tie for the most floor titles won in a single season.
CURRENT ILLINI IN THE RECORD BOOK
Entering the season, two Illini currently own places in the top scores section of the record book. On vault, Hartville has a hold on four of the top-five places in the modern era scoring. His top score, and the school record, of 15.550 came in 2013, his freshman season at the Big Ten Team Finals. Hartville and Paul Ruggeri share the second-best score on the event at 15.550.
Bobby Baker is the second Illini in the books, owning the fourth-best all-around mark registered by an Illinois gymnast. Baker sported an 89.550 last season when the Orange and Blue hosted Penn State.
COACHING STAFF
During the off season, Daniel Ribeiro was promoted to the position of associate head coach after serving four seasons as an assistant under Spring. The Illini also welcomed back Don Osborn who rejoins the Orange and Blue after serving as the head coach from 1994-96 and an assistant coach under Yoshi Hayasaki for the eight seasons prior to that. This will mark his first season working with Spring and Ribeiro though.
LOOKING AHEAD
Upon return from University Park, Pennsylvania, the Fighting Illini will play host to the UIC Flames and Temple on Feb. 6 at Huff Hall. Action is slated for 4 p.m. CT and can be streamed for free from FIGHTINGILLINI.com.
