The crowd in Huff Hall began to quiet down as Bobby Baker began his run toward the vault during the Illinois men’s gymnastics meet against Arizona State.

“It was the exact same run that I’ve been doing for four years,” Baker said.

Everything leading up to that springboard had been exactly the same, even down to his pre-workout and pre-meet meal of Goldfish crackers and candy.

To an untrained eye, the entire routine might have looked like an exact reenactment, but the judges at Huff Hall that day noticed that Baker’s movements in this vault were polished almost to the point of perfection.

They gave him a near-perfect score of 14.900.

Baker’s score set the high mark for all Division I men’s gymnastics this season. It was part of an impressive performance for the senior captain that earned him two other event titles in floor exercise (13.700) and still rings (14.450), while also placing second on the high bar (14.000).

He was awarded Big Ten Co-Gymnast of the Week honors last week.

This was just one of many memorable performances turned in from the four-time All-American throughout his illustrious Illini career. To date, Baker has earned a total of 26 event titles and other numerous accolades, including Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Big Ten Gymnast of the Year in 2015.

However, it was not one of Baker’s performances that has been his favorite memory as an Illini gymnast.

“During my freshman year, (former Illini gymnast) C.J. Maestas really taught me how to be good at gymnastics, and he was my freshman role model,” Baker said.

Maestas was a member of the Illini program from 2011-2015 and earned individual national championships in still rings (2012) and high bar (2015) as well as a team national title in 2012. Maestas and Baker were on the squad together for the 2015 season.

“(C.J.) may be the single greatest team-oriented player to come through my program,” said Illini head coach Justin Spring.

Baker credits Maestas with helping make him a more efficient and motivated gymnast. Similarly, Baker believes C.J. assisted him in adjusting from club gymnastics to college gymnastics.

“(C.J) helped me shift my focus from club gymnastics, where you compete for yourself, to college gymnastics, where it is all about the team,” Baker said.

Baker has used his positive experiences with Maestas to take a team-first approach to his senior season.

“I want to do the most for my team that I can, whatever that is,” Baker said. “In my position I am a gymnast and also a captain, so I have more responsibility and (have to) look out for other people. I have more to offer the team as a whole than just gymnastics.”

Baker’s insights and tips to younger teammates will be steadily present this season, and his words — perhaps even his meet day mea — will live on after his graduation.

Bigger than his pregame tradition, maybe some of the younger Illini will learn from Baker’s perseverance. After a quality season during his freshman year, which garnered him the aforementioned Big Ten Freshman and Big Ten Gymnast of the Year honors, Baker struggled with wrist injuries throughout his sophomore and junior seasons. Despite these injuries, Baker continued competing, albeit while not at full strength, and helping the Illini win on his way to more accolades such as All-American honors in still rings (2017) and vault (2017).

After a successful surgery this past summer to shorten his ulna, the Lemont, Illinois, native is looking to return to the pommel horse and parallel bars by late February.

“Bobby could be one of the best in the world on parallel bars if he is healthy,” Spring said.

This boost on the parallel bars would be huge for the Illini, who have won titles in every event this season except the parallel bars. Baker’s return to the parallel bars and pommel horse will signal his return to the all-around game.

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