CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – No. 7 Illinois earned its spot in the NCAA Championships team finals after placing third in the NCAA Championships Qualifying Session II with a season-high score of 319.658 on Friday night at State Farm Center.
The Fighting Illini rose to the occasion with season-best team event scores on parallel bars, pommel horse, and vault. The Orange and Blue bested No. 6 Penn State (311.357), No. 11 Army (308.593), and No. 10 Navy (306.726) while finishing behind No. 3 Stanford (327.992) and No. 2 Michigan (324.623).
The Illini started the night on still rings, securing their second-best event score of the season with a 53.265. Preston Ngai garnered a team-high 13.733, while Hasan Aydogdu's 13.533 and Garrett Schooley's 13.166 all ranked in the top 11 scores on the apparatus as the Orange and Blue sat in third place after the first rotation.
Carrying their momentum to vault, the Fighting Illini scored a season-best 55.366 on the event. Schooley turned in a 14.500 – marking his ninth straight meeting scoring 14.0 or better – to earn the event title. Dylan Shepard's 13.800 was good for a share of 12th place. Illinois held strong in third place with a score of 108.631 after two events.
Illinois turned in another season-high event score on the parallel bars during its third rotation with a 54.199. Sam Phillips turned in a season-best 13.933 to finish in fourth place, followed closely by Shepard's season-high of 13.866, which was good for fifth place in the field. The Fighting Illini remained in third place through the third rotation with a combined reading of 162.830.
On the high bar next, the Orange and Blue were led by Ryan Vanichtheeranont's 13.166, which ranked 11th. Costa added a 12.966 as the Illini's second-highest performer. Collectively, Illinois scored a 50.065 during the fourth rotation, bringing its four-event score to a 212.895, keeping the Illini in third place.
In the fifth rotation on floor, Tate Costa tallied a team-high 13.433, while Phillips' 13.166 was good for the hosts' second-best score on the apparatus. The Illini entered the final rotation in third, though it led fourth-place Penn State by less than two points.
With the pressure on, Illinois finished with its highest score of the night on pommel horse, collecting a season-best 55.532 to clinch its spot in the team finals. Brandon Dang posted a 14.733 in the anchor position, the highest score of the night on the event by over six-tenths of a point, to secure the team's spot in the team finals on Saturday night.
UP NEXT
The final day of the NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships sees No. 7 Illinois compete in the team finals – alongside No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 Stanford, No. 4 Nebraska, and No. 5 Ohio State – at State Farm Center on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT.
