Men's Gymnastics

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April 17, 2008

2008 NCAA Championships PHOTO GALLERY - Day 2 & 3

Heading into the 2008 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships this Thursday, April 17 on the campus of Stanford University, Illinois Sports Information Director Kevin Martinez will take fans to the behind the scenes happening of the Illinois gymnastics team as the team prepares for the 2008 national championship competition. Martinez will document through a blog the travels of the team during their stay under the sunny skies of California, and keep fans up-to-date with the moves and events that fill the team's time in Stanford, Calif.

The fourth edition of the blog tries to tell you everything that went on throughout the day, but it just doesn't do the team justice for sure.

Wednesday, April 16:

I don't know even where to begin the day. I just need to jump right in I guess. First off, Illinois athletic trainer Heather Hellman and I decided to take a tour of Stanford's campus, which does live up to the hype of California landscape and has a well-documented tradition of architecture and overall is a stunning campus. Actually, during our campus tour we came across a creek, which I will say that Heather and I both saw as a challenge to jump. She said she would go first and came up short, spraying mud and water up her leg. That, however, did not deter me from going for it.

I also caught some water, but was overall unscathed by the jump. I think everyone can remember seeing something like a creek or just something to jump and touch that you are always tempted to try and challenge yourself to do, but maybe don't. Well, be rested assured that we did not let that moment go to waste here.

When we returned to the hotel, we came back to great stories of what the guys did after breakfast and their study hour. To start, sophomore Andres Saavedra created a game that involved senior Tyler Yamauchi and junior Chris Lung called "Bouncy Cup". The game spun from Yamauchi finding a ping-pong ball in his travel bag. The three guys decided that they would challenge each other to see who could bounce the ball inside a glass cup with it hitting the bottom of the inside of the cup as many times in-a-row without dropping it. Saavedra set the bar first with eight, but the competitor that he is, Lung could not let that stand as he upped the number to 10. Since then, there was a second round of the competition, when senior Ross Bradley stepped in and took the record with his career-high 16.

Ladies and Gentleman, this team does not leave the competition in the gym, but takes it wherever they go. I will not lie, I actually saw Lung practicing in the hall while I was walking back from the lobby, so I am sure that Saavedra, Yamauchi and Bradley will be interested to find out that he is practicing for the next time they compete. Saavedra mentioned that they went to a team competition as well, as all three of them grabbed glasses and were bouncing it to each other, where unofficially, the record for that was set at 15.

At team practice, after the team had done all their routines and warm-ups, we were getting ready to head out and I got the pleasure of experiencing senior Michael Boyer's quick-shot questions game. Now, I think he did have an official name for it, but the basis of it is, he asks you a question and you have only so much time to think about it. Now, the questions ranged from, "Give me five nick names for Wes Haagensen", to "Name five different types of cereals." Overall, it was quite an epidemic that started, as everyone was getting in on the question asking. I will say this; this team never has a dull moment. Whether they are making up games or just quizzing each other, there is never a boring time with the men's gymnastics team. The funniest were the nicknames that were given out for Haagensen. He, by far, has the most of anyone on the team.

From there, the team rested some before we all got decked out in our best, and again the pinstriped suits came out for all to see, as we prepared for the 2008 College Gymnastics Association Nissen-Emery Award Banquet at the alumni center on Stanford's campus. While we were waiting, assistant coach Justin Spring wowed us with his piano skills, proving that he really can just do it all - for those who don't know, he is a 12-time All-American and four-time NCAA champion and most recently a 2008 Olympic hopeful. He went with a classic on the keys, "Chop Sticks."

As we headed to the banquet, we made sure in my van to get a picture of Lung in his "Men In Black" sunglasses and sleek black suit, along with senior Chris Silcox, freshman Roger Pasek and Saavedra who joined him in the picture. You can check that out in the photo gallery.

We have been quite a group since the trip started, with us always joining together in our silver van for most of the trips to and from the gym. I will say, we got chipped when it comes to the rental vans, because our van's side windows in the back seat don't roll down like assistant Jon Valdez's and head coach Yoshi Hayasaki's vans do. Needless to say, we have van envy, but still rock out in our van every time we get.

Once we got to the banquet, we found a great spot to take some group pictures before taking part of a great meal, where the fruit plates and food was great (Team pictures in the gallery). I went with the tie over the shoulder method of eating as assistant coach Spring mentioned to me that it was funny I was eating that way. He then informed me that the original reason ties were made were to protect your shirt from stains while you were eating, and were not fashion statements as they are today. I thought that was very interesting since the other day in my office, we were discussing the weirdness of ties and who in the world came up with the idea that guys should wear this piece of cloth from their neck for a dress-up affair. Either case, you can always count on Spring for some useful knowledge. He really can do it all, and knows it all too.

At the banquet, the whole team waited in anticipation to see the winners of the night. Head coach Hayasaki was up for Central Regional Head Coach of the Year, while assistant coach Valdez was up for Central Regional Assistant Coach of the Year. And I would not forget to mention that senior Wes Haagensen was a finalist for the Nissen-Emery Award, the Heisman of college gymnastics.

All three awards had very worthy opponents going up against Illinois' very own, making it one of the most highly contested fields for the Nissen-Emery Award in quite sometime as well. Unfortunately for our coaches and Haagensen, neither of them took away any hardware, as Penn State swept the coaching honors with their staff that helped lead the Nittany Lions to the Big Ten title, while Oklahoma's Jonathan Horton - a 15-time All-American - won the Nissen-Emery Award.

Head coach Hayasaki, however, was honored with the Richard Aronson Special Service Award, which goes to an individual that has gone above and beyond the call of duty for the sport of men's gymnastics. So, Illinois did not walk away empty-handed, but Haagensen, Valdez and Hayasaki are all winners in my book.

It was funny when we were talking at the table with Haagensen, and he said, if I do win, I have no idea what I would say. Spring and Valdez both gave him great advice, in my opinion, that he should get up there and say when he was handed the award, "Well this definitely is not a plunger." Alright, so maybe that joke you had to be there, but I thought it was quite funny when they said it at the table.

So fans, I know that does not really even scratch the service of all the things that happened today, but I hope that gave you a glimpse into our daily lives and preparation for the NCAA Championships.

Until tomorrow, where I will be writing my final blog before the releases start pouring out, hopefully headlined with NCAA Champions. However, I don't want to jinx anything, so I will just say that I hope we do really well and I that I am blessed with great things to write about in my releases. Look forward to that blog and the start of the releases. Thanks again for reading ...

Until next time fans

KMART