They say all good things come to an end, which is the path Illinois (5-3, 2-2) is on. The Illini competed in the team and individual Big Ten championships over the weekend and experienced highs and lows in the competition. After their fourth-place finish with 320.950 points, seven Illini advanced to day two.
Despite having one qualifier in each of the six apparatuses, only two placed on the podium. Sophomore Brandon Dang won gold on the pommel horse (14.775), and sophomore Garrett Schooley got bronze on the floor (13.875).
Several members of the squad shared their opinions on the team’s current standing.
Dang with a bang
Dang defended his pommel horse title on Saturday with a score of 14.775. His first-place finish leaves him undefeated on the apparatus.
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Several of Dang’s teammates expressed their reactions to his monumental performance.
“I think Brandon Dang is a force to be reckoned with,” said senior Max Farkhadau. “He manages to win almost every meet he competes in.”
“It’s very cool to see Brandon defend his title,” said junior Ryan Vanichtheeranont.
Following NCAAs, Dang will head to Egypt for his third and final international assignment of the year.
Impact of injuries
It’s no secret that the Illini were dealt their fair share of injuries this season. This setback led to countless lineup changes, lower scoring and plummeting in the rankings. As always, as one team ranks lower, another gets closer to the top spot.
Farkhadau noted how the team, before the injuries, ranked higher than a certain star-studded team.
“Michigan has two Olympians on their team, but that doesn’t make us feel any way,” Farkhadau said. “It’s not something we ever think about. At the start of the season, before injuries hit the team, we were able to rank above them (number 2) in the NCAA.”
From ranking ahead of two bronze medalists to falling several spots down, nothing stops this Illini team from moving forward.
“Personally, my biggest motivation to keep going towards the end is hoping to end on a good note,” Farkhadau said. “Obviously, things happen in competition, but I’d like to get a nice resolution to my career.”
Road to NCAAs
With the Big Ten championships over, it’s time for the team to turn the page to larger meets. Farkhadau said the team placed in the harder of the two sessions for the first round of NCAAs. That means they will have to finish in the top three against challenging teams such as Ohio State (4-4, 1-3) and Stanford (10-3).
“The biggest thing left to work on is the mental preparation,” Farkhadau said. “Not many new physical strides can be accomplished in such a short time frame before NCAAs, so working on imitating meet environments and mastering mental arousal states is going to be key going forward.”
While mental preparation is key to the final performance of the season, Vanichtheeranont noted what else the team needs to focus on.
“I believe that our performance was essential moving forward as we can ride this momentum while refining our gymnastics as we move into NCAAs,” Vanichtheeranont said.
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