CHAMPAIGN — The feeling didn’t sit well with Justin Spring in 2015. Nor last year, either.
The seventh-year Illinois men’s gymnastics coach experienced the thrill of winning a Big Ten title in his first three seasons leading his alma mater, where he played an integral role in helping Illinois win a 2004 Big Ten championship in his own college career.
“When I took over the program, we kept winning,” Spring said. “Our team was so talented. Then, it just stopped.”
Illinois hasn’t won a Big Ten title since 2012, the same season the Illini last captured the program’s 10th national title.