The Illinois men’s gymnastics senior class didn’t close its season the way it had hoped. The Illini finished the regular season with two consecutive losses to No. 8 California and No. 11 Nebraska. From the beginning of the meet against the Cornhuskers, Illinois wasn’t mentally prepared. 

“I think we can all agree that it wasn’t our best meet,” senior Yoshi Mori said. “There was a lack of energy that got to us and it showed in our performance.” 

The Illini honored seniors Vince Smurro, Austin Phillips, Malcolm Brown and Mori before the meet. Even though the competition against Nebraska was the last meet of the regular season and the last home meet for the Illini, Phillips said his mentality going into the meet never changed.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s my first or last meet or if the President is watching, there is nothing different about what I’m doing,” he said. “I still have to do my job out there. After that is done, then I can think about the occasion.”

Illinois head coach Justin Spring said the seniors are an unusual class and bring more than just experience to the team.

“We have one senior that has been here for two years, and one senior that has been here for five,” Spring said. “What a tremendous difference of experience and time here. … It’s been a collective mix of amazing competitiveness, commitment and personality. These guys have really been a core part of what this team is not just gymnastically, but characteristically. This spring break trip really opened my eyes to all the different personalities we have in this class, and they’ll be greatly missed.”

Illinois had a slow start in the first rotation and recorded a season-low score of 68.550 on the pommel horse in the second rotation. However, junior Chad Mason earned his first title of the season and second of his career on the event, scoring a 14.550. Illinois head coach Justin Spring said getting all of his gymnasts on the same page is a constant struggle.

“We hoped that they gain experience from this and learned that they need to have a different level of commitment to do what is needed, and that is to have the team hit consistently all the same day,” Spring said. “If you ask any coach, that is what they are always going for, how to get the individuals to show up as a collective and have a great day.”

The entire night consisted of varying performances from the Illini. In the last rotation, Illinois surrendered its lead recording the second-lowest score on the high bar this season with a 67.300. Aside from the low team score, Phillips had a standout performance on the event, posting a season-best 14.750. This score earned Phillips his first title of the season.

“The reality of me doing my last routine in Huff (Hall) really hit me while I was chalking up,” Phillips said. “I kind of let it all sink in, looked at the crowd, looked at my teammates and coaches and then looked at the bar. I knew I wanted to attack my routine and I did. It was one of my best routines of the year.”

Mori also captured his seventh overall title this season in the all-around on senior night with a collective score of 85.050. Illinois will have a two-week break before competing to defend their title at the Big Ten Championships. The Illini have won the title the past four seasons. Illinois will have to prepare mentally more than physically during practice.

“We need to bring it again and build that belief,” Spring said. “It’s not just going to happen for us, we need to step up and make it happen. I need to see the action that that’s going to happen in the gym the next week.”

Gina can be reached at [email protected] and @muelle30.