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Justin Spring enters his second season at the helm and fifth season overall with the Illinois men's gymnastics program.
Following the 2009-10 season, Spring was named head coach for the Illinois men's gymnastics program after spending one year as an associate head coach. Spring handles all of the gym coaching duties along with assistant coaches Ivan Ivankov and 2010 graduate Luke Stannard.
In one season as associate head coach, Spring led Illinois to its second-straight Big Ten team title and a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships. Individually, five Illini earned All-America accolades, three took home Big Ten titles and Stannard became just the third Illini to win the prestigious Nissen-Emery Award, which is presented annually to the nation's top senior male gymnast.
Additionally, Spring helped guide Illinois to a 22-5 overall record and the top spot in the rankings on four separate occasions and never dropped out of the top five. For his efforts, Spring was honored as both Central Region Coach of the Year and Big Ten Coach of the Year.
Spring was promoted to associate head coach following the 2009 season after three years as an assistant under the legendary Yoshi Hayasaki.The promotion meant that Spring had to retire from competitive gymnastics to concentrate on coaching full time.
In 2009, Spring was named Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year along with Ivankov after helping Illinois to the Big Ten Championship, a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships and three individual NCAA titles.
Spring, a former Illini standout, had an amazing year in 2008 that culminated with winning a bronze medal with Team USA at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Along with his teammates, Spring defied all odds as the U.S. men brought home the bronze medal and surprised everyone, except themselves.
Spring was spectacular in the team finals in leading the Americans to the improbable bronze. He scored 15.900 on vault in the second rotation, a team-leading 15.850 on parallel bars, a spectacular 15.675 on horizontal bar, along with 15.200 on floor exercise in the three-up, three-count format.
Spring's road to the Olympics was not an easy one to say the least. Plagued by injuries throughout his career, Spring battled through constant pain in hopes of accomplishing his lifelong dream of bringing home an Olympic medal. Less than a year before his Olympic appearance, Spring tore his ACL at the 2007 Visa Championships. However, he did not let the incident hamper his dreams. After making a speedy recovery, the Burke, Va., native headed to the 2008 Olympic Trials, where he was scheduled to compete on only four events due to a nagging ankle injury.
However, he knew he needed to do more in order to make the team. He needed to show the Olympic selection committee that he had the complete package they were looking for. With his dream on the line, Spring rolled the dice and made a last minute decision to add floor exercise to his competition events. Despite not practicing on the event in nearly two months, the gutsy move paid off as he posted a score of 15.200, the second highest score of the night.
After a second strong day of competition at the Olympic Trials, all Spring could do was wait. The Olympic team would be announced the next day. In the end, the decision to add floor proved to have a huge pay off, as Spring's name was one of the six announced to the team.
Spring, one of the most talented gymnasts in Illinois history, finished his collegiate career in 2006. He now looks to help lead the Orange and Blue to Big Ten and NCAA Championship titles in his new role on the coaching staff.
In his first season as an assistant in 2007, Spring was instrumental in helping the Illini return to the NCAA Championships Super Six, as the Illini extended their streak of top-five finishes to five straight years with fifth-place finishes at NCAAs and Big Tens.
In 2008, Spring helped lead the Illini to a runner-up finish behind No. 1 Penn State at the Big Ten Championships. At the 2008 NCAA Championships, the Illini continued their success finishing third, their sixth consecutive top-five finish. The Illini brought home nine All-American honors with freshman Paul Ruggeri winning the national title on high bar, Illinois' first high bar champion since Spring in 2006.
Finishing his collegiate career in 2006, Spring strung together one of the best seasons in Illinois gymnastics' history. The season culminated with him earning the 2006 Nissen-Emery Award, an honor that goes to the top senior male gymnast in the nation. A double titlist at the 2006 NCAAs, Spring took home the crown on the high bar and defended his title on parallel bars. In addition, he carded five total All-America honors with a second-place finish in the all-around, third on floor exercise and fourth on vault.
Along with his individual honors, Spring helped the Illini to runner-up finishes at the 2006 NCAA and Big Ten Championships. The finish at NCAAs came less than a half-a-point shy of team-champion Oklahoma, and just short of the Orange and Blue's 10th national title.
Overall, the Burke, Va., native is a four-time NCAA Champion, winning a pair of titles on high bar in both 2004 and 2006 and back-to-back crowns on parallel bars in 2005 and 2006. Along with his national recognition, Spring earned 2006 Big Ten Gymnast of the Year accolades after winning the all-around crown at Big Ten Championships. In all, Spring finished his illustrious career with three All-Big Ten first team honors, six Big Ten Gymnast of the Week laurels and three Inside Gymnastics' NCAA Gymnast of the Week honors.
During his four-year career, Spring garnered three Big Ten Championships with titles on parallel bars and all-around in 2006 and on the floor exercise in 2004. Spring is a two-time recipient of the Dike Eddleman Athlete of the Year award (2004, 2006), which goes to Illinois' top male and female athlete. A face and name that will forever be remembered in Illini record books, Spring left the Fighting Illini a 12-time All-American, the most since Abie Grossfeld earned 13 from 1957-59, and holds Illinois records on floor exercise, vault, parallel bars and high bar. Spring's success has extended far beyond his honors in collegiate competition, as he won the national title on parallel bars at the 2008 Visa Championships, his third overall honor. In 2005, Spring became the first Illini gymnast to win a National Title at the Visa Championships, winning the gold on high bar. With his two-day combined high bar score of 18.750, Spring took home the title on the event.
He competed at the 2007 World Cup meet in Moscow, taking home second on high bar at the event. The Illini great was chosen to the 2007 U.S. Pan American Games team, bringing home the United States' first gold medal at the games in 16 years when he claimed the crown on parallel bars. He also helped lead the U.S. team to a bronze medal finish at the Games hosted in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Spring then followed the performance with a stellar outing at the 2007 Visa U.S. Championships, where he collected his second U.S. title on high bar - first since 2005 - and was a silver medalist on floor exercise.
Overall, Spring is a five-time U.S. Senior National Team member after his fifth straight selection in 2008. Spring also represented the U.S. at the 2005 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Melbourne, Australia, on floor exercise, parallel bars and high bar. At the 2005 World Championships, Spring finished 10th to qualify as a reserve on high bar and finished 12th on parallel bars.
At the 2005 American Cup, Spring scored a 9.500 on high bar and brought home the silver medal behind only Olympic champion Paul Hamm. The Illini gymnast finished fourth on the high bar at the 2004 Visa U.S. Championships and competed for Team USA at the 2003 World University Games in Daegu, South Korea, advancing to the finals on floor.
Spring graduated from the University of Illinois in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in speech communication and is currently pursuing his master's in recreation, sport and tourism. Spring and his wife, Tori, reside in Champaign.
 Spring helped Team USA to a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games  |
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THE SPRING FILE
Education
High School: Lake Braddock High School (Lake Braddock, Va.)
College: University of Illinois (2003-06)
Coaching
2010-pr. Head Coach, University of Illinois Men's Gymnastics
2009-10 Associate Head Coach, University of Illinois Men's Gymnastics
2006-09 Assistant Coach, University of Illinois Men's Gymnastics
Coaching Honors
2010 Central Region Coach of the Year
2010 Big Ten Coach of the Year
2009 Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year
International Career
• 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Member - Bronze Medal
• 2008 Visa U.S. Championships Gold Medalist - Parallel Bars
• Eight-time U.S. Senior National Team Member
• 2007 Pan American Games Team Member - Bronze Medal
• 2007 Pan American Gold Medalist - Parallel Bars
• 2007 Visa U.S. Championships Gold Medalist - High Bar
• 2007 Visa U.S. Championships Silver Medalist - Floor Exercise
• 2007 Moscow World Cup Silver Medalist - High Bar
• 2005 World Championships U.S. Team Member
• 2005 Visa U.S. Championships Gold Medalist - High Bar
• 2005 Winter Cup Champion - High Bar
• 2005 American Cup Silver Medalist - High Bar
• 2003 World University Games Team Member
Collegiate Career
• 2006 Nissen-Emery Award winner
• 2006 NCAA Parallel Bars Champion
• 2006 NCAA High Bar Co-Champion
• 2006 Big Ten Gymnast of the Year
• 2006 Big Ten Parallel Bars Champion
• 2006 Big Ten All-Around Champion
• 2005 U.S. National High Bar Champion
• 2005 NCAA Parallel Bars Champion
• 2004 NCAA High Bar Champion
• 2004 Big Ten Floor Exercise Champion
• 12-time All-American
• Three-time All-Big Ten Team Member
• Six-time Big Ten Gymnast of the Week
• Three-time Inside Gymnastics NCAA Gymnast of the Week
• Two-time UI Dike Eddleman Athlete of the Year (2004, 2006)
• Illinois School Record Holder (FX, VT, PB, HB)
• Two-Year Team Captain
