Final Results (PDF)
WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Illinois men's gymnastics team placed third at the NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships on Saturday night at the Christl Arena, recording a team score of 422.100. Four Fighting Illini gymnasts will return home with six All-American honors; Bobby Baker on still rings and vault, Alex Diab on rings, Chandler Eggleston on floor exercise and high bar, and Brandon Ngai on pommel horse.
"We place an extremely high level of expectation on everything that we do," said head coach Justin Spring. "I think that's the standard of excellence that Illinois is looking for. After coming in third, our team's immediate reaction was a little bit of a sigh. I think, over the course of the next couple of days, I'll reinforce the message that getting third place in the country is exemplary. That's pretty awesome. They did an amazing job, especially given the circumstances. All the injuries, the setbacks and the gauntlet of obstacles they had."
Illinois started off strong, posting a 72.550 on vault, the highest score of any single rotation this season. Bobby Baker led the Illini, tying his season-best score of 14.800, placing seventh overall and earning All-American honors. Jacob Light recorded a 14.650, and Alex Diab turned in a score of 14.600. Chandler Eggleston added a 14.350, and Blake Martin posted a 14.200.
he Orange and Blue moved to parallel bars for the second rotation, with a lead of 1.6 points over Oklahoma. Baker again had the highest score for the Illini with a 14.350. Johnny Jacobson posted a 14.300, and Joey Peters scored a 13.900 as Illinois turned in a 69.250 as a team on parallel bars.
On high bar for the third rotation with a one-point lead over Oklahoma, Eggleston led the Illini with a 14.600, finishing in second place overall and garnering All-America status. Ross Thompson posted a 13.950, and Tom Gibbs added a 13.600 as Illinois turned in a team high bar score of 68.900.
The Illini were on floor for the fourth rotation, trailing Oklahoma by 4.1 points and second-place Stanford by 0.3 points. Eggleston was the top Illinois gymnast in the rotation, tying for sixth overall with a score of 14.400 and earning his second All-American honor of the night. Diab posted a 14.350, Sebastian Quiana turned in a 14.200, and Baker scored a 14.100 as the Illini earned a team score of 70.900.
Heading to pommel horse for the fifth rotation, Illinois was down 6.3 points to Oklahoma, and 0.7 points to Stanford. Brandon Ngai tied for fourth overall and earned All-American honors with a 14.800, the best Illini score on the day. Matt Foster scored a 14.250, and Gibbs recorded a season-best mark of 14.100 to help the Orange and Blue to a 70.000 score on pommel horse.
Illinois overtook Stanford and trailed Oklahoma by 10.1 points after the fifth rotation, and the Illini would move to rings for the sixth rotation. Both Baker and Diab garnered All-America status on rings, with Baker placing eighth after scoring a 14.600 and Diab posting a 14.650 for seventh place overall. Joey Peters turned in a 14.100 as the Illini earned a season-best score of 70.500 to close out the final rotation.
"It was truly a team effort," Spring said. "I think that's something we have been great at the last couple of years. Our best guys were injured and not at their best, so a lot of guys had to step up, and we had good, consistent gymnastics. That's what got us to a very high level at the end of the year and that's commendable."
Oklahoma won the national title with a 431.950 score, and Ohio State placed second with a score of 423.700. Illinois came in third, followed by Stanford (421.500), Minnesota (415.200) and Nebraska (412.900)
ILLINI ALL-AMERICANS
