The fifth-ranked Illinois men’s gymnastics team swept all six event titles on Saturday night against UIC on its way to a 210.300-193.650 victory.

Paving the way for the Illini was its sophomore class, as it earned four event titles on floor exercise, still rings, vault and high bar. Tyler Yamauchi took two of the titles, earning a 9.250 on rings and scoring a 9.300 on vault. Sophomore Wes Haagensen took the all-around title with a season-best 53.700, which also included a high bar (8.700) title and floor exercise title with a career-high 9.400. But head coach Yoshi Hayasaki said Haagensen’s score could still be better.

It was freshman Chris Lung, though, which did an “outstanding job,” Hayasaki said. Lung won the pommel horse with a career-best 9.000. Haagensen finished in second place, while senior Ted Brown finished third with an 8.550.

“Personally, this was by far the best meet for me,” Lung said. “I hit 4-for-4; pommel’s right up there as the first event (in the rotation), it was tough, but I just stayed on and finished it really well.”

Lung said he attributes his improvement in meets to getting his routines more consistent.

“I’ve been working really hard in the gym and that work is starting to pay off,” he said. “I’m just starting to be more confident in my sets.”

One of Hayasaki’s key concerns heading into Chicago’s meet was the production on pommel horse. But with a season-high 34.100 on the event, he said it was a definite improvement from the Iowa meet’s score of 30.

“It’s improving, but it’s not where we should be,” Hayasaki said of pommel horse. “At this point, it’s still a key event, we have to do better. There’s no question.”

Missing from Illinois’ lineup was sophomore Chris Silcox and senior Justin Spring. Hayasaki said the meet against Illinois-Chicago was a chance for a much-needed break from competition for Silcox.

“He’s one of the few that has been competing in every competition,” Hayasaki said. “I asked him how he felt about competing, and he felt a little tired mentally, and physically, he needed some type of rest.”

Spring sat out with nagging shoulder pain and back spasms, and received a cortisone shot on Monday to temporarily relieve some of the pain. Spring said he anticipates being back in action for next weekend’s meet against Iowa in Iowa City in at least one event, if not more. While Spring said that it is his body’s nature to break down, he also said that not having an off-season due to his spot on the USA National Team has taken its toll. Having to take a break from competition now and after straining his kneecap earlier in the season, Spring said it has been frustrating. The team’s number of injuries hasn’t helped, either.

“It’s extremely frustrating, because we haven’t maxed out as a team yet on hits and we don’t know what we can do,” Spring said. “If we have the lower guys hit, then we don’t have our top guys in, and if we have our top guys in then we don’t all hit together. We’re just trying to plan for when it really matters.”

But despite not having Spring and Silcox in the lineup, the team came up with a pretty good score, Hayasaki said. Against Michigan and Iowa on Feb. 18, the Illini put up a score of 211.650 comparable to the 210.300 on Saturday.

“We put up some outstanding routines, so I can’t complain about this weekend,” he said. “But there are places that we really still need to work on.”