CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Four different Illini earned event titles against No. 4 Ohio State, though the Illini fell to the Buckeyes, 316.200-313.900, at Huff Hall on Saturday afternoon.
Tate Costa, Brandon Dang, Sam Phillips, and Garrett Schooley all claimed titles as the Orange and Blue celebrated Senior Day and held their annual Pride Meet.
Starting the day on floor, Costa used a season-high 14.050 to take home the title. The Illini combined for a 53.100 on the apparatus before the sides shifted to pommel horse. Preston Ngai's 13.100 marked the team's second-highest score.
Illinois claimed its second event title of the afternoon via Dang's 14.600, his third outing this season with at least a 14.600 on pommel horse. Connor Micklos, who was honored on Senior Day, notched a 13.000 for the Illini's second-best score on the event.
On rings, Ngai and Hasan Aydogdu tied for the Orange and Blue's best score with identical tallies of 13.600. As the meet reached the halfway point, the Illini trailed by three-tenths of a point, 158.350-158.050.
The Orange and Blue's best team score of the afternoon, 53.950, came on its next rotation on vault. Schooley led the way for the Illini with his 14.100, good for his sixth vault title of the season, while Dylan Shepard tied his career-high and set a new season-best with a 14.000.
Shepard collected Illinois' best score on parallel bars with a 13.050 as the Illini entered the final rotation facing a deficit of over one point.
Phillips marked his final appearance at Huff Hall with a season-high 13.950 on horizontal bar, which saw him earn his second title on the event this season.
UP NEXT
Illinois closes the regular season on the road against No. 3 Nebraska on Saturday, March 14, at 4 p.m. CT.
