May 3, 2009
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Fighting Illini men's and women's gymnastics teams gathered Sunday afternoon at the Hilton Garden Inn in Champaign for their annual awards banquet, celebrating a season full of accomplishments and saying goodbye to seniors. Freshman C.J. Padera and senior Marijka Botterman took home Most Valuable honors for the men's and women's teams, respectively, for their contributions both in and out of the gym.
Padera, finished third on pommel horse at the Big Ten Individual Championships, hitting a career-high 14.575 and helped lead Illinois to its first team Big Ten Championship in five years, while Botterman, a second team All-Big Ten selection, broke the individual school vault record and played a large leadership role in her senior season.
Botterman also took home Most Outstanding Gymnast honors, emerging as one of the Illini's most consistent performers, finishing the year with eight individual titles and 16 top-three finishes. Sophomore Paul Ruggeri took the honor for the men's team as the Manlius, N.Y., native added to his hardware this season, bringing home two NCAA Individual Championships on parallel bars and high bar and two Big Ten Individual titles on floor and parallel bars.
Sophomore Melissa Fernandez, a first team All-American on the balance beam, took home the Most Improved and Most Consistent Beam Award for the women's squad after hitting on all her beam routines this season, as well as becoming a constant contributor on vault and bars.
Senior Chris Lung was named the winner of the men's Fighting Illini Attitude Award, while fellow senior Nick Stango was named Most Improved gymnast. The men also named three captains for the 2009-10 season with sophomore Daniel Ribeiro, junior Luke Stannard and junior Brian Liscovitz, all receiving the nod.
Seniors Nate Luketin and Lindsey Smith and won the Scholar-Athlete Awards for having the highest GPAs on their respective teams.
Junior Luke Stannard was the inaugural winner of the Yoshi Hayasaki Award, given in honor of the legendary men's gymnastics coach who retired at the end of this season.
In addition to the honors handed out, both squads bid farewell to the senior classes. The Fighting Illini women said goodbye to four seniors, Botterman, Julie Crall, Kim Kruk, and Smith, while the men's squad sent-off a stellar class of four seniors - Luketin, Lung, Stango and Ross Bradley.
The Fighting Illini men sent Coach Hayasaki out in style this season bringing home the 2009 Big Ten Championship and a fifth place finish at the NCAA Championships. Three Illini earned a total of six All-America honors at this year's Championships. The Illini had three individual NCAA Champions with Ruggeri bringing home two NCAA titles on high bar and parallel bars, while fellow sophomore Daniel Ribeiro garnered his first NCAA title on pommel horse. Ruggeri and Stannard were both first team All-Big Ten selections after Ruggeri won two titles on floor and parallel bars, while Stannard took home his first Big Ten title on pommel horse. Hayasaki was named Big Ten and Central Region Coach of the Year, while assistants Justin Spring and Ivan Ivankov were named Central Region Assistant Coaches of the Year.
The Fighting Illini women, meanwhile, enjoyed the program's best season in school history. The Illini finished the year ranked 12th in the nation and earned their first ever trip to the NCAA Championships after placing second at the NCAA West Regional. Junior Sarah Schmidt joined Fernandez as an All-American, taking second team honors on floor. Head Coach Bob Starkell was named National and co-Big Ten Coach of the Year and assistants Kim Landrus and Amy Kruse were named National co-Assistant Coaches of the Year. Freshman Kelsey Joannides and Schmidt won the Big Ten vault and floor titles, respectively, while sophomore Allison Buckley took a share of the West Regional beam crown. Five Illini gymnasts -Botterman, Buckley, Joannides, Schmidt, and junior Nicole Cowart - were second team All-Big Ten honorees, giving the Illini the most All-Big Ten selections of any conference school.
2009 Illinois Men's Gymnastics Team Awards
Most Valuable: C.J. Padera
Most Outstanding: Paul Ruggeri
Most Improved: Nick Stango
Fighting Illini Attitude Award: Chris Lung
Scholar-Athlete Award: Nate Luketin
Yoshi Hayasaki Award: Luke Stannard
2010 Team Captains: Brian Liscovitz, Daniel Ribeiro and Luke Stannard
2009 Women's Gymnastics Award Winners
Most Valuable: Marijka Botterman
Most Outstanding: Marijka Botterman
Most Improved: Melissa Fernandez
Most Consistent Beam: Melissa Fernandez
Scholar-Athlete: Lindsey Smith
