Team/All Around Results | Event FinalistsÂ
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The Illinois men's gymnastics team posted a season-best team total of 413.900 to clinch its 28th Big Ten championship in program history Friday Night at the Crisler Center. Senior Bobby Baker finished third in all-around competition, finishing with a season-high score of 83.000.Â
"We had a slow start and kind of had some weird hiccups," said head coach Justin Spring. "We said at the beginning that we were going to have to just grind through because this was going to be a fighting championship and every team had the ability to win it. We had about maybe five or six athletes that shouldn't have been competing tonight. My trainer is the MVP. She is unbelievable. To have those athletes and to come back and do what they did is unbelievable."
The Illini got things started on pommel horse and put up a team total of 66.450. Senior Brandon Ngai won the event for the Orange and Blue and came away with his 23rd career horse title, good for second all time in school history. In the second rotation, the Illini got a strong routine from reigning Big Ten Still Rings Champion, Alex Diab, who posted a 14.650 to place second on the event.Â
UI hit its stride in the third rotation, as all five Illini gymnasts posted 14+ scores on vault. Senior Bobby Baker paced the team, finishing with a 14.950, while sophomore Jacob Light and freshman Max Diab posted scores of 14.650 and 14.300, respectively. The Illini team score of 72.00 marks a new season-high. Baker also led the way on parallel bars, coming away with a season-high 13.900 to tie for fifth on the event, while junior Johnny Jacobson posted a 13.850 and tied for eighth.Â
Illini pulled away from the field with a dominant showing on high bar. Senior Tyson Bull (14.850), redshirt senior Chandler Eggleston (14.250) and Baker (14.050) posted the top three scores of the meet. Junior Ross Thompson also had a strong showing, tying for fifth with a score of 13.800. Wrapping the meet up on floor, sophomore Sebastian Quiana and Jacobson scored the top totals for Illinois, finishing with scores of 14.300 and 14.100, respectively. Light also posted contributed on the event, earning a season-high 13.850.
After an injury sat him out the final regular season meet of the year, Baker was the lone Illini gymnast to compete in all-around competition. The Lemont, Illinois, native came away with a season-best 83.000 to place third overall.Â
"This [championship] is different," added Spring. "I won my first couple championships as a very new head coach and it took losing the last five years to know how special that was. This one is on a whole other level."
Event Titles
Pommel Horse - Brandon Ngai (15.000) (23rd career pommel horse title)
High Bar - Tyson Bull (14.850)
Looking Ahead
Illinois will be back at it tomorrow night, as Bobby Baker, Tyson Bull, Alex Diab, Johnny Jacobson, Jacob Light, Sebastian Quiana and Ross Thompson compete in the event finals. Competition begins at 6 p.m. CT.Â
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