Jan. 12, 2010

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The 2010 Fighting Illini men's gymnastics team will open its season with a new coach at the helm for the first time in 13 years, as former Illini All-American and Olympic Bronze Medalist Justin Spring was named associate head coach last April, taking over the reigns from 33-year head coach Yoshi Hayasaki who retired at the end of last season. Spring settled right into the new position and, along with second-year assistant coach Ivan Ivankov, worked hard to make sure the team was where it needed to be to compete with the best.

"Our team has done a lot of growing up since last season," Spring said. "Almost all of our guys have upgraded their routines and we should be a much stronger team in 2010. Stanford had us beat before we even walked into the NCAA championships last year because their start values were so much higher than ours. The team worked extremely hard over the summer and I can now say that we have some of the most difficult, highest-rated routines in the country."

The Illini return junior All-Americans Daniel Ribeiro (Chestnut Ridge, N.Y./Northern Highlands Regional) and Paul Ruggeri (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville Manlius), who both enjoyed breakout sophomore seasons in 2009. Ribeiro won an NCAA title on the pommel horse at the Individual Event Finals. At the NCAA Team Qualifier, he set a career high in the event with a score of 16.000 and also set career highs on the parallel bars (14.250) and floor exercise (15.100) earlier in the season. This past August at the Visa Championships, Ribeiro tied for fourth place on the pommel horse and sixth on the floor exercise.

"Dan continues to show that he is among the best in the world on the pommel horse," Spring said. "He also has stepped up to help the team significantly on floor and his dedication to this gymnastics team is unprecedented. He is a great leader for this group of guys in and out of the gym."

Ruggeri racked up the accolades in 2009, becoming the first male gymnast since Spring in 2006 to win Illinois' Dike Eddleman Athlete of the Year award after claiming his second straight national title on the high bar and his first on the parallel bars. Additionally, he earned All-America honors in the all-around, floor exercise, high bar and parallel bars and also secured Big Ten titles on the floor and parallel bars. In national competition, Ruggeri took gold on the high bar at the Winter Cup Challenge in February and at the Visa Championships he placed 12th on the vault and 17th in the all-around.

"Paul is one of the most gifted gymnasts I have ever seen," Spring said. "He also is one of the hardest workers I have seen. When you put a perfectionist together with those two things you get Paul. His potential is unlimited. The team will look to Paul to lead in four out of the six events."

Defending Big Ten and U.S. national champion on the pommel horse Luke Stannard (Waukegan, Ill./Warren Township) also returns for the Orange and Blue after a successful junior campaign. Stannard recorded 11 top-two finishes last season on the pommel horse and floor exercise and set new career highs on the high bar (14.350), parallel bars (14.200), pommel horse (15.400) and floor (15.200). "Luke is the hardest worker I have ever seen and continues to push himself to achieve his goals every year," Spring said. "The leadership, perseverance and dedication that led him to success are now being utilized in his role as team captain."

Fellow seniors Brian Liscovitz (Hillsborough, N.J./Immaculata) and Chad Wiest (Butler, Pa./Moniteau) also look to make an impact this season, as Liscovitz will compete on the high bar and parallel bars, which he earned All-America honors on in 2008, and Wiest returns after missing all of last season due to injuries, but also is a former All-American.

"Brian has upgraded his already impressive routines. His high bar and parallel bar routines will be among the best in the country and will be crucial for a good team score," Spring said. "Chad is returning from a long and complicated road of injuries. He looks stronger than ever, however, and I expect him to do incredible things on floor and vault for us this year."

In addition to the upperclassmen, Spring expects his six-member sophomore class to make big waves this season as well.

"Our huge sophomore class is littered with talent," Spring said. "The team will look to Tyler Mizoguchi (Houston, Texas/Taylor), Austin Phillips (Mahwah, N.J./St. Joseph Regional) and C.J. Padera (Winfield, Ill./Wheaton North) to step up big this year. Their competitiveness pushed them to make huge improvements over the summer to get ready for this season, so we will look to them to contribute a huge chunk of the team score. They're all super talented and push each other to be the best. I can't wait to see what these guys do this year."

Mizoguchi posted five top-three finishes in his first season with the Illini and competed in every event. He placed first on the parallel bars at the Big Ten Team Championships with the third-best score of the season for the Orange and Blue, while also placing sixth on the floor exercise at the Big Ten Individual Event Finals. At the NCAA Team Finals, Mizoguchi tallied a season-best score of 15.800 on the vault.

Despite missing the Big Ten Championships due to injury, Phillips competed in every event for the Illini during the regular season, earning second-place finishes on the high against Iowa and Minnesota. He returned for the NCAA Team Qualifier and Team Finals and tallied a season-best score of 14.500 on the still rings. Phillips will be redshirting the season due to a knee injury suffered in December of 2009.

Padera, younger brother to Illini senior Kyle Padera (Winfield, Ill./Wheaton North), won his first collegiate event on the high bar with a season-best score of 14.900 and also recorded the fourth-best team score of the season on the parallel bars (14.950).

The senior-sophomore still rings duo of Tyler Williamson (Lake Forest, Calif./Orange Lutheran) and Anthony Sacramento (Libertyville, Ill./Carmel Catholic) are expected to lead the team once again in the event, as the pair posted the top three scores for the Illini last season.

"Anthony is just coming back from shoulder surgery, but we will look to him to put up a huge ring score to complement our veteran standout Tyler," Spring said.

Two fresh faces will compete for the Orange and Blue this season, as newcomers Malcolm Brown (Chicago, Ill./Walter Payton College Prep) and Yoshi Mori (Anaheim, Calif./Irvine) look to make an immediate impact. Brown was a two-time participant in the Junior Olympics Nationals.

"Malcolm came in with incredible talent on pommel horse," Spring said. "With his excellent work ethic there is no doubt that he will contribute for the team on this event."

Mori was a U.S. Junior National team member from 2007-09 and competed with the club team New Hope Gymnastics, which won the Iron Man Championships in 2006 and 2009.

"Yoshi is a standout all-around competitor and has the potential to contribute significantly on almost every event," Spring said. "He will come in and make huge contributions to this team right away as a freshman."

Projections thus far for the season have the Illini ranked fifth nationally in the GymInfo Preseason Coaches poll and second in the Big Ten preseason poll. Defending national champion Stanford earned the top spot, followed by California, Oklahoma and Michigan. The Wolverines also were picked first in the Big Ten.

"Michigan is going to be very strong this year and since they're in the Big Ten, we will see them a few times before postseason events," Spring said. "Other schools we will be watching closely are Stanford, California and Oklahoma. These teams continue to produce great gymnasts and are usually very consistent in the postseason."

The Illini's first three meets will be on the road, as they open the season at the Windy City Invitational in Chicago on Jan. 16, before traveling to Ohio State on Jan. 30 and the Winter Cup Challenge in Las Vegas Feb. 4-6. Seven dual meets are set to follow, including three at home against Minnesota, Michigan and UIC, before the start of postseason competition in Columbus, Ohio, for the Big Ten Championships.

"With our returning veterans and a very talented sophomore class, I am excited to see this team reach its full potential this year," Spring said. "The sky is the limit. Most of the preseason was spent heavily upgrading routines. We then spent a great deal of time and effort getting them stronger and more prepared to compete with these difficult routines.

"This is one of the deepest talent pools I have seen on this team in a while," Spring continued. I know that if we stay healthy, we should be strong competitors for another Big Ten title and should be in the running for an NCAA title as well."