LINCOLN, NE. – The fighting Illini men's gymnastics team took fourth place at the 2021 Big Ten Men's Gymnastics Championships, putting up a score of 396.900.

Junior Michael Fletcher was crowned the B1G Vault champion with a score of 14.600. Junior Ian Skirkey earned runner-up honors on the pommel horse with a score of 14.300, while sophomore Connor McCool tied for second on the floor with a 14.600. Sophomore Evan Manivong tied for fifth place on vault with a score of 14.450. The Illini as a team set a new season-best on the floor with a 70.650.

"We really struggled on parallel bars, but we never gave up and finished strong. We finished the last two rotations hitting 10/10 routines, and had our best pommel horse of the season, so I'm really proud of how we finished despite having multiple gymnasts out" head coach Justin Spring said. 

Fletcher was named to the All-B1G First Team, and Skirkey and McCool were named to the All-B1G Second Team. Evan Manivong earned the B1G Sportsmanship award for the Illini. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Rotation 1- Still Rings (66.000)
• Rotation 2- Vault (71.200)
• Rotation 3- Parallel Bars (59.950)
• Rotation 4- High Bar (63.000)
• Rotation 5- Floor Exercise (70.650)
• Rotation 7- Pommel Horse (66.100)

All-B1G TEAMS

• First Team- Michael Fletcher
• Second Team- Ian Skirkey, Connor McCool
• B1G Sportsmanship Award- Evan Manivong

UP NEXT

The Illini await their placement for the 2021 NC Men's Gymnastics Championship, which will be revealed on Tuesday, Apr. 6.