Champaign, Ill. — The Illinois men's gymnastics team (0-3) continues its early-season road stretch this weekend as it travels to Florida for the Sam Mikulak Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 24. The meet is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.
The Fighting Illini enter the competition looking to bounce back after a fourth-place finish at the OSU Open on Jan. 18, where they posted a team score of 307.100. Despite the result, Head Coach Daniel Ribeiro expressed optimism regarding the team's trajectory.
"First meet of the year was about getting some experience and getting the jitters out," Ribeiro said. "We have about 50 percent of our starting lineup set to come back in a couple weeks. We will only go up from here".
LAST TIME OUT
At the season opener, Illinois showed significant strength on the still rings and parallel bars. The still rings rotation was the team's most productive, totaling 52.700 points. Garrett Schooley led the way with a 13.400, followed closely by Hasan Aydogdu (13.300), Connor Micklos (13.000), and Vahe Petrosyan (13.000).
The Illini also found success on the high bar through Aydogdu, who secured the event title with a score of 13.500. Other highlights included Nathan Whitaker's 13.700 on the floor exercise and Schooley's team-high 13.900 on vault.
ILLINI IN THE RANKINGS
Following the opening week of competition, Illinois holds the No. 8 spot in the 2026 NCAA Preseason Rankings. The team is coming off a 2025 season where they finished third in the Big Ten and sixth nationally.
COMPLETE ILLINOIS NOTES [pdf]
