Illinois men’s gymnastics aim for title at Big Ten Championships
Senior Hamish Carter performs his floor routine during the competition against Oklahoma on Feb. 12. The Illini will be heading towards the playoff for the Big Ten Championship at University Park, Pennsylvania on Friday and Saturday.
April 1, 2022
The Illini have a chance to reclaim their Big Ten throne after ending their regular season on a hot streak.
The Illinois men’s gymnastics team will be traveling to University Park, Pennsylvania, for the two-day Big Ten Championships competition that starts on Friday.
The Illini are headed to the playoffs ranked No. 5 nationally with an average score of 401.864, placing them behind Big Ten rivals Michigan and Nebraska, according to the College Gymnastics Association.
The playoff battle will start on April 1 at 6 p.m. CDT with the team and all-around competition, while individual event finals will take place on April 2.
The 10 highest individual scores from each team competition will advance to the individual event finals.
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The team finished their regular season with a record of 4-3 and is coming off as one of the strongest performances of their season.
Their last victory took place during their regular-season finale against Air Force and the United States Naval Academy on March 19.
During this final meet of the season, they managed to set a new season-high team score, 416.000, for the third week in a row.
The team also managed to post season highs on the floor exercise with a score of 71.351, pommel horse with a score of 69.700 and parallel bars with a score of 69.500.
All-around senior Hamish Carter scored 82.900 at the meet, which marked the second week in a row where he scored 80-plus points for the Illini.
Senior Ian Skirkey also scored a career-high of 15.400, which marked the second time he scored above 15 points this season.
Advancing past the Big Ten Championships round and into the NCAA Regional qualifiers has become a norm for the team, as they previously placed fourth at the Big Ten Championships with a score of 363.900. They went on to finish sixth during the NCAA Championships last year during the 2020-21 season.
They also recently finished first at the Big Ten Championships during the 2017-2018 season with a total score of 413.900.
Both competition days will begin at 6 p.m. and will be broadcasted live on the Big Ten Network and the Fox Sports app.
@ArtofRenato
