Michigan Drops Road Meet at No. 5 Illinois

Saturday, February 3

Champaign, Ill.

2:00 PM CT

Michigan

410.350

413.800

Illinois

Fred Richard (Michigan Photography)

2/3/2024 6:02:00 PM | Men's Gymnastics

Complete Results

By: Scott Kemps

» The Wolverines trailed the entire meet, facing a 1.750 point deficit heading into the final rotation on high bar, having to count two falls.
» Paul Juda competed in the all-around for the first time since the 2022 season, scoring an 82.800. He also took the vault title with a 14.800.
» Fred Richard won both parallel bars with a 14.400 and high bar (14.900).

Site: Champaign, Ill. (Huff Hall)
Scores: #5 Illinois 413.800, #4 Michigan 410.350
Records: U-M (7-1, 0-1 B1G), ILL (6-1, 1-0 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Feb. 10 -- vs. #3 Nebraska (Cliff Keen Arena), 1 p.m.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The No. 4-ranked University of Michigan men's gymnastics team fell to No. 5 Illinois 413.800-410.350 on Saturday (Feb. 3) at Huff Hall.

Graduate student Paul Juda competed in the all-around for the first time since the 2022 season and scored an 82.800, highlighted by a vault title (14.800). Sophomore Fred Richard hauled in the parallel bar win with a 14.400 and increased his nation-leading score on high bar with a 14.900 for the title.

How it Happened

Floor Exercise
Michigan began the meet with a 66.650 on floor exercise, led by a second-place score (14.250) from Juda to take second place, and sophomore Landen Blixt scored a 14.350 to place third. The Wolverines trailed the Illini by 2.350 points after the first rotation.

Pommel horse
The Wolverines compiled a season high 67.700. Juda once again led the effort with a 14.250 on the apparatus, placing third. Richard (13.600) and freshman Kevin Chow (13.550) placed fourth and fifth, respectively. Through two rotations, the Wolverines trailed by 3.10 points (136.850-133.750).

Still Rings:
Senior Javier Alfonso took second on still rings with a score of 14.300, and U-M held down the second through fifth places overall. Freshman Akshay Puri (13.800), junior Rithik Puri (13.700) and Juda (13.650) all turned in solid routines. With a team tally of 68.550, U-M cut its deficit to 1.650 points.

Vault:
Juda took the event win on the vault table with a 14.800 as the Wolverines tallied a 71.500 on the apparatus. However, Illinois countered with a 72.900, increasing its lead to 3.050 points.

Parallel bars
The Wolverines cut into the Illini lead with a team mark of 68.950, keyed by an event win from Richard (14.400) and runner-up finish from senior Evgeny Siminiuc (14.300). Heading into the final rotation, U-M trailed by 1.750 points.

High bar
Richard notched the top spot on high bar, scoring a 14.900 on the apparatus, the highest score in the country by .500 points. However, the Wolverines were forced to count a pair of falls on the event. Siminiuc tied for third on the event with a 13.850.

Tweet of the Meet