Tate Costa was a national champion yet was completely and utterly unaware of that reality.
Competing on all-around, Costa finished his final apparatus, pommel horse, and took the tape off his wrists. Content with his performance on the day, he looked up at the scoreboard and came to an unexpected realization.
"I was like, 'Oh shoot, I just won.' I didn't even know. I had no clue," Costa said. "I just looked up and was like, 'I won that. That's pretty sick.'"
A national champion on horizontal bar and an All-American on H bar and all-around, Costa became the first Illini to win the NCAA high bar title since 2015 and the program's first multi-event All-American since 2019.
"It means the world," Costa said. "I just got the job done on the day and was super excited to be able to come away with a national title. I was not walking into the meet planning on winning that, but executing on the day is what matters. I'm just happy to be able to do that."
Competing solely on high bar as a freshman at last year's NCAA Championships, Costa saw his teammates achieve national glory. The Illini totaled nine All-Americans at the meet, while two Orange and Blue specialists earned titles and stood atop the podium on the final day of competition during his debut campaign.
Knowing he had the drive and talent to reach that level, Costa left the competition feeling as motivated as ever to eventually achieve those dreams.
"Obviously, I was happy for my teammates, but I wanted to be one of them. I wanted to be a national champion," Costa said. "I definitely had some fire under my butt coming into this past offseason and worked pretty hard, and I thought I was pretty successful this season."
Costa immediately reaped the rewards of his work over the offseason, as he earned the all-around title at the Windy City Invitational in the Illini's first meet of the 2024 slate. One week later, he secured the parallel bars and all-around titles against Greenville in the first dual meet of the year.
Posting four career-best scores in Illinois' win over No. 4 Michigan on Feb. 3, Costa secured Big Ten Men's Gymnast of the Week honors for the first time. In the team's final regular-season home meet, Costa clinched floor and parallel bars titles in the Orange and Blue's triumph over No. 7 Ohio State.
One week later, Illinois won its first Big Ten regular-season title in program history with a road win against No. 6 Penn State in the final meet ahead of the Big Ten Championships.
Costa helped the Illini record a second-place finish as a team at the conference championships, which were hosted at State Farm Center in Champaign. Despite not posting his best scores, he felt good going into NCAAs, especially compared to his experience one season ago.
"Last year, I was really nervous and trying not to mess up for the team. I was just trying to do my best in that moment," Costa said. "This year, I definitely had a lot more confidence going into it, and I was a lot more ready to shoot for being an All-American and that kind of thing."
Earning the all-around title in the qualifying round of the NCAA Championships, Costa placed fourth in the event he would eventually win the following day.
In the Super Six, the Illini competed on high bar in their fourth rotation of the evening. Scoring a 13.900 alongside two other gymnasts, Costa earned the tiebreaker – and the title – by posting the highest execution score.
Though he did not go into championship weekend expecting to walk out a national champion, Costa knew he had it in him as the season progressed.
"I came to the realization during the season that I had the potential to do that, so I really focused in on doing it," Costa said. "I just kept my head down, did my job every day in the gym, and saw where it took me. I just tried to do the most every day. I'm very happy with being able to reach that point this early in my collegiate career."
Winning a national championship as a sophomore, Costa knows he still has a lot left in him as he heads into the 2025 season. Named one of three team captains for next year's squad, Costa aims to build off his individual success in Illinois' quest for national postseason glory.
"I'm just going to upgrade, get after new skills, and carry that confidence into next year," Costa said. "This year definitely builds up a lot of confidence. I'm going to continue to go in confident because I am the reigning national champion, so I have to act like it and perform like it.
"Hopefully, I can be even more successful in the upcoming years. That motivation is not stopping, so I'm excited about that."
