It was a weekend of ups and downs for No. 5 Illinois (2-2, 1-1) at the Winter Cup in Louisville, Kentucky. While sophomore Brandon Dang was named to the U.S. Senior National Team, a bout of injuries struck the Illini again.
Freshmen Hasan Aydogdu and Ian Sandoval were injured last weekend. However, Dang and sophomore Preston Ngai didn’t let these injuries faze their performances. The sophomores’ intense mental preparation was evident in their final competition results.
Illinois’ experience at the Winter Cup was bittersweet. Here are the highs and lows the team can take away from the weekend.
High: Dang achieves his goals
The Winter Cup was a high-stakes competition for Dang for two reasons. First, Dang had the opportunity to stay undefeated on the season. Second, he had the chance to make the U.S. Senior National Team.
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According to head coach Daniel Ribeiro, the senior national team allows gymnasts to compete in international competitions. These competitions will eventually include the World Championships and the Olympic Games. If gymnasts aren’t a part of this select group, it can be difficult to be in consideration for these larger meets.
“The national team is our NFL,” Ribeiro said. “We’re not fighting for millions of dollars. We’re fighting for the ability to get to travel around the world and show off what we’ve been working on.”
Another reason it was important for Dang to make the national team is that it is the first year of the Olympic quad. The Olympic quad is split into the four years leading up to the Olympics.
In the first year, specialists make up the team as the Individual Events World Championships occur. As a specialist himself, Dang can get on international judges’ radars with a national team selection.
Compared to regular season dual meets, the Winter Cup format was different. Gymnasts competed for two days instead of one, which can be difficult for recovery.
On Day 1, Dang had a solid performance on the pommel horse. He finished the day in third place after scoring 14.000. In his second consecutive Winter Cup appearance, the sophomore wasn’t ready to settle for third.
Dang came out even stronger on Day 2 and put up a score of 14.350. This gave him a two-day score of 28.350, earning Dang the USA Winter Cup Pommel Horse champion. Ribeiro said Dang is currently outpacing his Illinois record for event titles on the pommel horse.
“(Dang) already has that confidence,” Ribeiro said. “But to come out and win, now he’s like, ‘OK, I can win a dual meet, and I can win Big Tens, but now I’ve proven I’m the best in the country.’”
Before leaving the competition, Dang still hadn’t gotten word if he had made the national team. It wasn’t until an hour and a half later, on the car ride back to Champaign, that he got the good news.
“Brandon ended up getting the email first and just started mumbling,” Ribeiro said. “It was really exciting. We were all screaming for him in the car.”
Low: Injuries take out all-arounders
Although the weekend ended with triumph, the start of the Winter Cup was rough for the Illini. Aydogdu was the first to go down with an injury during podium training before the competition. Sandoval followed suit with a concussion during the second rotation on Day 1.
Sandoval and Aydogdu are the third and fourth Illinois all-arounders to deal with injuries this season. Redshirt fifth-year Sam Phillips tore his Achilles against No. 6 Nebraska (1-1, 0-1), and junior Tate Costa has dealt with a back injury all season.
Unfortunately, Aydogdu will miss the remainder of the season with a 10-week timetable for recovery. On the other hand, Sandoval doesn’t have a definitive return date. The freshman will be in concussion protocol for the foreseeable future.
“It’s hard to say,” Ribeiro said when asked about Sandoval’s return. “Could be a week, two weeks, a month.”
Ribeiro is specifically proud of how Dang and Ngai responded to the injuries. They didn’t let the team’s injuries impact how they performed individually. Ngai finished the weekend with two top-10 finishes, fourth place on pommel horse and eighth place on still rings.
“(Ngai) is motivated and excited knowing where he finished and that he was coming off an injury himself,” Ribeiro said. “He couldn’t do floor, and that’s one of his best events. He was like two or three spots outside of the national team, and he didn’t even do his best events.”
In the last few years, Illinois hasn’t had issues with injuries. That isn’t the case this season, but Ribeiro is optimistic that Illinois’ team depth will help it persevere. Ribeiro said he is looking for the rest of the team to take full advantage of this opportunity to produce high scores.
Coming up
Illinois will be back at Huff Hall for the first time since Jan. 31 this weekend in a tri-meet against No. 11 Army (1-2) and No. 12 Greenville (1-2).
