Chambana Sun

The Illinois men's gymnastics team, ranked fifth nationally, is set to compete in the 2024 EVO Elite Collegiate Open in Sarasota, Florida. The event will feature a matchup against Simpson College, as well as non-NCAA teams such as Florida Storm and Georgia United. Additionally, athletes from the U.S. Senior National Team will participate.

This competition marks the first time Illinois will face Simpson in dual action since Simpson's official addition to the NCAA in 2023. The two teams previously met at the Windy City Invitational in January, where Illinois secured a victory with a score of 404.450 to Simpson's 361.250.

Simpson recently broke four team records despite losing to Greenville. Freshman Brian Rollison achieved a career-high score of 13.200 on rings. Sophomore Michelangelo Villani set his personal best on vault with a score of 14.200, marking the second-highest vault score in school history. Senior Sammy Shafransky also set personal bests on parallel bars and high bar with scores of 12.050 and 12.000 respectively.

Despite upsetting No. 3 Michigan, Illinois remains at No. 5 in the Road to Nationals rankings, which are determined by team scores rather than votes.

Illinois boasts athletes ranked in every event: Connor McCool is seventh on floor exercise; Brandon Dang is sixth on pommel horse; Ashton Anaya ranks fourth on still rings; Michael Fletcher is placed eleventh on vault; Will Hauke holds thirteenth place on parallel bars; and Logan Myers stands sixth on high bar.