Flurry of injuries trips team
by Leslie Harms
Senior writer
Only days before the Illinois men’s
gymnastics team was scheduled to take on the top
two teams in the nation, they hit Black Monday.
Monday, the first day of practice after the
team’s landslide victory over No. 10
Michigan State, did not go quite as head coach
Yoshi Hayasaki planned.
First, sophomore Sean-Paul Crawford and freshman
Forest Floden showed up to practice sick, both
with symptoms of a cold.
Second, junior Leo Oka strained his shoulder
while performing routine stretches and exercises.
Third, senior Travis Romagnoli was working on a
tumbling pass when he did not complete his twist,
landed with his ankle cranked back and ended up
with a bruised ankle.
With Michigan and Ohio State meeting in Columbus
and the Illini joining them for a conference meet
on Saturday night, the Illini aren’t quite
the full healthy team they planned to be.
“This is a big meet,” Hayasaki said.
“But we have more important meets coming up,
and I want to make sure that we can count on
these guys when it really counts.”
As of Wednesday, all the gymnasts were scheduled
to compete but in limited capacities.
Romagnoli will most likely compete in four of his
six events, leaving out the floor and the vault
— the two events most stressful to his
ankle.
“I will still have several landings I have
to worry about. However, if I dismount right,
there will be minimal pain,” Romagnoli said.
Romagnoli is no stranger to injury. In 1998 he
was the NCAA all-around champion, and he was on
track for the same prestige in 1999 when he broke
his hand in practice. He missed the end of his
junior season but still received the team MVP
award.
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 Heather A. Grotto The
Daily Illini
Jonathan Ham performs a plange during his
floor exercise routine at the meet Saturday
against Michigan State University at Huff Hall.
The Illini won 225.825-220.825. The Illini face
Michigan and Ohio State in Columbus Saturday.
Oka is hoping to compete as well,
even though he has seen limited practice time
this week. He earned All-Big Ten honors and
finished seventh in the all-around at the NCAA
Championships last season.
Hayasaki has high hopes for this weekend’s
meet, even though his team is not completely
healthy.
“We feel we have a depth on the team. There
are definitely some gymnasts who can step up and
fill the spots and we’ll still be
competitive,” Hayasaki said.
Hayasaki is expecting Crawford and senior Linh
Hoang to step up, while he is looking for big
performances from freshmen Nathan Torres and Bob
Spelic.
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