While the Illinois campus emptied for winter break, the men’s gymnastics team was hard at work competing in its first meet against in-state rival Illinois-Chicago.

The Illini, which started the season tied for fifth nationally, easily defeated UIC 413.100-393.450.

This came with five of the team’s gymnasts sitting out because of team rule violations.

The Illini swept each of the six events. Standout performances from freshmen Chandler Eggleston, Matthew Foster and Thomas Gibbs led the Illini.

Eggleston captured titles in floor exercise and vault, scoring 15.000 and 15.250, respectively. He also placed third on high bar, fourth on parallel bars and 10th on still rings. This performance earned him Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors.

The Illini had the top five scorers in both pommel horse and still rings. Sophomore Logan Bradley won pommel horse with a score of 14.150 and junior Mike Wilner won still rings with a score of 15.400.

The Illini claimed two of the top three spots in high bar, and junior Jordan Valdez placed first with a 14.350.

Gibbs was the sole Illini to compete in each event and won the all-around with a score of 82.550 after placing in the top five of five events.

The Illini will return to Chicago again Saturday to compete in the Windy City Invitational, hosted by UIC.

Kieran can be reached at [email protected].