Aug. 19, 2007

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Illinois assistant coach Justin Spring and 2008 senior Chris Silcox represented Illinois with top marks at the 2007 Visa Championships in San Jose, Calif., Aug. 15-18. Spring added a US national title on high bar (29.950) to his already acquired gold medal on parallel bars at the 2007 Pan American Games, while Silcox turned in his best performance on high bar with a score of 28.300 to finish ninth.

For Spring,s performance, the four-time NCAA champion was named to the 15-member 2007 US Senior National Team, putting the 2006 Nissen-Emery award winner in the running for the 2007 World Championships team. However, those dreams were cut short when Spring suffered a torn ACL on his second vault of the competition, an injury projected to keep him out for at least 6-12 months.

Spring was coming off leading the US to a third-place finish at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil earlier this summer and was a favorite for the world team as one of the US's best on vault, floor, parallel bars and high bar.

"I thought Justin was a shoo-in potentially for the next Olympics," Paul Hamm said Friday night. "To see this happen is really disappointing for everyone on thee team."

Spring finished US Championships with a silver medal performance on floor exercise (31.100), finished tied for 17th on vault with a two-vault score of 30.200, took 29th on rings (14.400) and posted a 31st-place finish on parallel bars (14.400). On both rings and parallel bars, Spring was unable to execute a second routine after the injury.

In Silcox's performance at Visas, including his top-10 finish on high bar - the same event that won the San Antonio, Texas native his first All-American honor - he turned in a 15th-place finish on vault with a 30.350. Silcox ended the day with a tied for 19th-place finish on floor with a two-routine score of 28.700.

Other Illini participating at Visas but not making the second day of competition were seniors-to-be Wes Haagensen and Tyler Yamauchi. Haagensen put up scores of 14.750 on floor, 12.700 on pommel, 11.900 on rings, 14.900 on vault, 11.950 on parallel bars, 12.700 on high bar and finished 27th on day one in the all-around with a score of 78.900. Yamauchi also had a solid outing, carding scores of 13.850 on floor, 14.500 on rings, 14.700 on vault and 13.450 on parallel bars.

Overall gold medalists included David Durante of Garwood, N.J., who earned his first-career US all-around title (179.300), while also bringing in the parallel bars title with a 30.950. 2004 Olympic all-around champion Paul Hamm of Waukesha, Wis./Team Chevron, competed in two events, wining the floor exercise crown with a total score of 31.300. Sean Golden of Camden, N.J./Houston Gymnastics Academy, added a second U.S. vault title to the one he claimed in 2005 by earning a two-day score of 31.850. The 2006 world pommel horse bronze medalist, Alexander Artemev, won his second straight US pommel horse title with a total score of 30.500. On still rings, Kevin Tan of Fremont, Calif./Team Chevron, defended his title with a total score of 32.850, while Spring rounded out the gold medalists, winning horizontal bar after sticking a triple back dismount on a routine that included high release moves.

Following the conclusion of the competition, USA Gymnastics announced its selections for the world team that will travel to the 2007 World Gymnastics Championships Sept. 1-9, in Stuttgart, Germany. The six members are: Guillermo Alvarez of Denver, Team Chevron; Artemev of Morrison, Colo., Team Chevron; Durante; Golden; Jonathan Horton of Houston, University of Oklahoma; and Tan. Sho Nakamori of Albany, Calif./Stanford University, is the team alternate.

The 2007 World Championships is the qualifying event for the 2008 Olympic Games. The top-12 teams advance to compete in Beijing.