CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – For the seventh straight year, Team Orange walked away with the win at the annual Orange and Blue intrasquad competition on Saturday afternoon at Huff Hall.
In the first rotation, Team Blue got out to a quick start with a high-flying vault from freshman Kennedy Brown, but Dylan Shepard of Team Orange evened up the score on floor. The teams remained even, with Micheala Gentry (Team Blue, vault) and Nathan Whitaker (Team Orange, floor) scoring for their respective teams. Mareli Muller (vault) of Team Blue landed the first stick of the day, but the point was countered by Preston Ngai's point for Team Orange on pommel horse.
Knotted at three, the second rotation started off with another winning routine from Brown, this time on uneven bars. Not to be outdone, pommel horse All-American Brandon Dang ran away with a point for Team Orange. Orange tallied another three quick points from Makayla Green (uneven bars), Garrett Schooley (pommel horse), and Kyle Mayotte (still rings), but Chloe Cho (uneven bars) was unfazed and pull through with another point for Team Blue.
With a two-point lead entering the third rotation, Green stepped up on beam for Team Orange, winning her matchup. Hasan Aydogdu (still rings) pulled his weight, taking back a point for Team Blue. Eden King (Team Orange, beam) and Tali Joelson (Team Blue, beam) made it tough on the judges, but ultimately the split decision landed in Joelson's favor. Redshirt fifth-year Sam Phillips would not be denied, putting together a flawless parallel bars routine to maintain Team Orange's lead. Ruthuja Nataraj (beam) kept Team Orange's momentum going, and Ian Sandoval (parallel bars) followed suit.
Headed into the final rotation, Team Orange led, 11-7, but Cho (beam) and Vahe Petrosyan (parallel bars) made quick work of their routines to cut into the deficit. Fifth-year Amelia Knight (floor) put Team Orange one point away from clinching the title, but Ryan Vanichtheeranont (high bar) and Joelson (floor) held them off, if only momentarily. On the final routine of the final rotation, Sam Phillips threw down a stellar high bar routine to take the final point.
Team Orange defeated Team Blue with a final score of 13-11. The women's gymnastics program will officially start competition Jan. 12 at the Ball State Quad, while the men's team starts action on Jan. 18 at the Windy City Invitational.
