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Men's Gymnastics
Spring Leads No. 3 Illini To Another Big Score In Win Over Temple
Feb. 27, 2004
Champaign, Ill. - Sophomore Justin Spring had another outstanding performance Saturday night as the Illini topped Temple 221.550-210.9 on Senior Night in front of 889 fans at Huff Hall. Illinois' score is the second highest in the nation this season, behind only the 221.575 the Illini put up two weeks ago in a win over UIC. It is also the fifth highest score in the NCAA since switching to the FIG scoring system in 2001. The third-ranked Illini improved to 8-3 on the season with the victory. Illinois won five of six events on the night and broke or tied school records on three events. The Illini opened the night by setting a school record of 37.150 on the floor exercise, but followed that up poor performance on pommel horse. Ranked second in the nation on the event, the Illini managed just a 35. 950 on pommel horse and appeared to dent their chances for a high score. However, strong performances on rings (36.400) and vault (37.100) followed and the Illini closed the meet out by tying the school parallel bars mark (36.600) and shattering the old high bar record of 38.000 with a 38.350. Illini head coach Yoshi Hayasaki was pleased with the way his team responded after a poor pommel horse. "It's a real confidence booster for these guys to go over 221 again, especially with a poor pommel horse performance," said Hayasaki. "One of these days we're going hit on horse and put up an even higher team score. Hopefully that will happen at the Big Ten and NCAA Championships." Sophomore Justin Spring was the star for the Illini once again winning four events and bettering two of his own school records. The Burke, Va. native won the floor exercise with a school record score of 9.800 and tied his own school mark on the to win the high bar (9.800). He also won the parallel bars with a 9.550, just shy of his school record score of 9.600, and vault with a 9.450. Spring has now won 18 event titles in just seven meets this season. "The sky is the limit for Justin," said Hayasaki of the sophomore phenom. "He keeps getting stronger and stronger every week and the scary thing is that he can do a lot more than what he's doing right now. He can do more difficult skills on all events he's performing on. His floor, high bar and vault have always been good and his parallel bars have really come along, but more than anything else I've been impressed with how his rings have been improving."
Winning the pommel horse for the Illini was sophomore transfer Ted Brown with a score of 9.1, while senior Casey Hayasaki took second with a 9.000. Another top performer for the Orange and Blue was senior Scott Wetterling, who took second on high bar (career-high 9.700) fourth on vault with a 9.250. Senior Bob Rogers placed second on floor with a 9.350, which tied his career-high, and fourth on high bar with a season-high score of 9.350. Ben Newman took second on rings (9.550) and Adam Pummer was third on high bar (9.500). Sophomore Anthony Russo tied career-highs on vault (9.100) and parallel bars (8.800), while senior Erik Garnett posted a new career-best on floor (9.100).
Coach Hayasaki was happy that the seniors had so much success at their final regular season home meet. "I'm very pleased that the seniors could finish off their home dual meet season with a high score," said Hayasaki. "All the seniors performed very well today. This is a very appropriate home finish for the them." Up Next: The Illini hit the road for their regular-season finale next weekend. The third-ranked Illini will head to Norman, Okla. looking to end the second-ranked Sooner's 48 meet winning-streak. The meet is set for 7 p.m. on Sat. March 6.
TEAM SCORES FX PH SR VT PB HB TotalILLINOIS SCORES (and event winners) Floor 1. Justin Spring 9.800 2. Bob Rogers 9.350 3t. Erik Garnett 9.100 5t. Adam Pummer 8.900 8. Scott Wetterling 8.550 10t. Anthony Russo 8.250
Pommel Horse
Still Rings
Vault
Parallel Bars
High Bar |
