Overall, the Burke, Va., native is a four-time NCAA Champion, winning a pair of titles on the horizontal bar in 2004 and 2006 and back-to-back crowns on parallel bars in 2005 and 2006. Along with his national recognition, Spring earned 2006 Big Ten Gymnast of the Year accolades after winning the all-around crown at the Big Ten Championships. Spring finished his career being named to the All-Big Ten first team three times, grabbed Big Ten Gymnast of the Week laurels six times, and earned Inside Gymnastics' NCAA Gymnast of the Week honors three times. During his four-year career, Spring garnered three Big Ten Championships with titles on parallel bars and all-around in 2006 and on the floor exercise in 2004. Spring is a two-time recipient of the
Dike Eddleman Athlete of the Year award (2004, 2006), which goes to Illinois' top male and female athlete. A face and name that will forever be remembered in Illini record books, Spring left the Fighting Illini a 12-time All-American, the most since Abie Grossfeld earned 12 from 1957–59, and holds the Illinois record on the floor exercise, vault, parallel bars, and horizontal bar. In 2006, Spring strung together one of the best seasons in Illinois gymnastics' history, earning the 2006
Nissen-Emery Award, an honor that goes to the top senior male gymnast in the nation. A double titlist at the 2006 NCAAs, Spring took home the crown in the horizontal bar and defended his title in parallel bars. In addition, he carded five total All-America honors with a second-place finish in all-around, third on floor exercise, and fourth on vault. Along with his individual honors, Spring helped the Illini to runner-up finishes at the 2006 NCAA and Big Ten Championships. The finish at NCAAs came half a point shy of team-champion Oklahoma, and just short of the Orange and Blue's 10th national title. Overall in his collegiate career, he is • 2006 Nissen-Emery Award winner • 2006 NCAA Parallel Bars Champion • 2006 NCAA Horizontal Bar Co-Champion • 2006 Big Ten Gymnast of the Year • 2006 Big Ten Parallel Bars Champion • 2006 Big Ten All-Around Champion • 2005 U.S. National Horizontal Bar Champion • 2005 NCAA Parallel Bars Champion • 2004 NCAA Horizontal Bar Champion • 2004 Big Ten Floor Exercise Champion • 12-time
All-American • Three-time All-Big Ten Team Member • Six-time Big Ten Gymnast of the Week • Three-time Inside Gymnastics NCAA Gymnast of the Week • Two-time UI Dike Eddleman Athlete of the Year (2004, 2006) • Illinois School Record Holder (FX, VT, PB, HB) • Two-Year Team Captain
International career Spring has also competed internationally representing the United States. He represented the U.S. at the 2005 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Melbourne, Australia on floor exercise, parallel bars, and horizontal bar as a member of the 2005 U.S. National Team. At the 2005 World Championships, Spring finished 10th to qualify as a reserve on horizontal bar and finished 12th on parallel bars. In 2005, Spring became the first Illini to ever win a U.S. National title with his two-day combined horizontal bar score of 18.750, while also scoring a 9.500 on the horizontal bar at the 2005 American Cup to take home the silver medal behind Olympic champion Paul Hamm. The Illini gymnast finished fourth on the horizontal bar at the 2004 Visa U.S. Championships with scores of 9.600 and 9.650 in the two-day format, and competed for Team USA at the 2003
World University Games in Daegu, South Korea, advancing to the finals on floor. In 2006, Spring garnered a selection to the 2006 Men's World Championships team, but had to withdraw due to injury. Spring graduated from the University of Illinois in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in speech communication. He is a three-time U.S. Senior National Team Member, a 2005 U.S. World Championships Team Member, the 2005 Visa U.S. Championships Horizontal Bar Champion, the 2005 Winter Cup Horizontal Bar Champion, the 2005 American Cup Horizontal Bar Silver Medalist, the 2003 World University Games Team Member Spring tore his
anterior cruciate ligament at the 2007 Visa Championships. Spring was named to the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics team on June 22, 2008. He performed very well at the Olympics, and was a key part of the United States Team's bronze medal victory, posting high scores on the vault, parallel bars, horizontal bar, and the floor exercise. His high-flying horizontal bar routine in team finals was particularly impressive and included a stuck triple-back dismount and scored 15.675. Spring's resemblance to
Prince Harry has earned him the nickname
Prince.
Retirement In 2010 Spring was named Head Coach of the
Illinois Fighting Illini men's gymnastics. He indicated that the new position required him to retire from the sport. ==Coaching career==