University of Minnesota Athletics
Meet Preview: Minnesota Travels to Illinois
1/26/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
| MEET 3: #5 Minnesota at #3 Illinois | |||||||||||
| Date | Saturday, Jan. 28 (4:00 p.m.) | ||||||||||
| Location | Huff Hall Gymnasium | Champaign, Ill. | ||||||||||
| Follow Along | Live Scoring | Live Stream | ||||||||||
| Social Media | @GopherMGym | Facebook | Instagram | ||||||||||
No. 5 Minnesota will face No. 3 Illinois on the road this weekend as the Gophers travel to Champaign, Ill. for a meet on Saturday, Jan. 28 at Huff Hall. The first rotation is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m.
Scouting the Fighting Illini
Illinois enters the weekend ranked No. 3 in the country, the highest ranked among Big Ten programs. The Fighting Illini are undefeated this season, after placing first at the Windy City Invite and topping Arizona State. Their average team score is 417.525.
Last year, Minnesota and Illinois met twice during the regular season. Similar to the start of 2017, Illinois was the overall winner at the 2016 Windy City Invite, posting a 425.950 over Minnesota's 424.500. However, the Gophers topped the Illini 432.650-429.750 in a six-team meet with Stanford, Iowa, the Canadian National Team and UMN Club last February.
Last Time Out
Minnesota earned a decisive victory over Air Force with a final score of 407.700 to 395.350. The team's score improved by over ten points after the Windy City Invite season opener. Vitali Kan was the floor exercise event champion with a 14.100, while Yaroslav Pochinka scored a commanding 15.100 on vault to take home the gold. Gophers Kan, Joel Gagnon, Shaun Herzog, Alex Wittenberg, Jalon Stephens each notched personal records. While Minnesota's only rookie Timmy Kutyla made his collegiate debut.
In The Ranks
The Golden Gophers maintained their No. 5 ranking in the College Gymnastics Association (CGA) Coaches' Poll. By event, Minnesota is ranked No. 7 on floor (68.300), No. 15 on pommel horse (63.050), No. 11 on rings (65.950), No. 3 on vault (71.825), No. 8 on parallel bars (66.900) and tied at No. 6 on high bar (66.625).
Looking Ahead
Minnesota will return to the Sports Pavilion on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 2:30 p.m. to host Nebraska and the University of Minnesota's Club Team. Tickets are available at mygophersports.com.
Players Mentioned
