April 17, 2010

Photo Gallery

WEST POINT, N.Y. - The Illini men's gymnastics team closed out the 2010 NCAA Championships with the Individual Event Finals Saturday night at Christl Arena. Three Illini earned their first-career All-America honors including seniors Tyler Williamson (rings) and Luke Stannard (pommel horse) and sophomore Anthony Sacramento (rings), while redshirt junior Chad Wiest garnered his second All-America accolade on floor. It marks the 11th-straight year Illinois has had at least one All-American and the eighth consecutive year with at least five, as sophomore Tyler Mizoguchi had also earned All-America honors the previous night in the all-around.

"Being an All-American in the NCAAs is no small feat," associate head coach Justin Spring. "So to bring home four All-Americans in one year is pretty outstanding. All of them have had a heck of a year and came off a crazy situation, Tyler (Williamson) with the ring, Chad (Wiest) with his arm, Luke (Stannard) fighting through his senior year and winning the Nissen and (Anthony) Sacramento with his shoulder. Sacramento basically put his routine together in two weeks. All of them were really solid fighters this week and especially tonight. I'm proud all of them were able to bring home an All-American status."

Less than 24 hours after battling through a pain-filled routine, Williamson finished out his collegiate career with a second-place finish on rings and tied his season-high score of 15.150. Sacramento tallied a 14.850 for the second consecutive night to finish in eighth place on the event. Wiest put together another solid performance on floor and topped his previous night's total with a score of 15.725 to place third. Rounding out the All-Americans was Stannard with a fourth-place finish on pommel horse (14.575).

"It was an experience unlike any other," Williamson said of his final collegiate performance. "I was hoping to just make it through my routine. I had no idea I was going to be able to hold my strength and stick my dismount like I did. I just wanted to go out and do my best and hope it was enough to All-American. It's so rewarding."

Also competing in the Individual Event Finals for Illinois was junior Paul Ruggeri (parallel bars) and sophomores Tyler Mizoguchi (vault) and C.J. Padera (parallel bars, high bar).

Coverage of the 2010 NCAA Team Finals will air Friday, April 23 at 12:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

Illinois Individual Event Results

Floor
3. Chad Wiest (15.725)*

Pommel Horse
4. Luke Stannard (14.575)*

Still Rings
2. Tyler Williamson (15.150-ties season high)*
8. Anthony Sacramento (14.850)*

Vault
9. Tyler Mizoguchi (15.425)

Parallel Bars
9. Paul Ruggeri (13.825)
10. C.J. Padera (13.650)

High Bar
9. C.J. Padera (12.700)

*All-American