The UIC men's gymnastics team will begin its 2018 season by hosting the 48^th annual Windy City Invitational Saturday evening.  The event will be held in a very special location, Navy Pier; the site of UIC's original campus from 1945-1965.

The Flames were a young team last season and they remain young this year, with 13 freshmen ready to contribute, and eight sophomores looking to build on their 2017 season.  Upperclassmen comprise only three spots on the 24-man roster, where redshirt senior Pratik Patel and juniors Wes Diveney and Steen Haugsted will be expected to take over the leadership roles on the team.

 

"Our two captains are Diveney and Haugsted," head coach Charley Nelson said.  "Both have shown a lot of improvement and will set the pace on their events.  Steen can compete for the [ECAC] conference title on parallel bars and Wes can do the same on rings."  Haugsted won the parallel bars against Air Force last season and set a career high of 14.000 at the ECAC Championships.  Diveney, a rings specialist, set a season high against Ohio State last year.

Among the sophomore class, Victor Bello, Asad Jooma, and Basil Szechinski are poised to have breakout seasons in 2018.  Bello was an ECAC Rookie of the Week following a victory on the vault, and finished fourth in the event at the conference championships.  Jooma finished second on the vault and set a personal best against Iowa.  Szechinski won the vault at the Midwest Open and set a season high on the high bar at the ECAC Championships.

"Jooma and Bello have a real opportunity to be All-Americans on the vault," Nelson said.  "Satchel Hudson has made huge strides and will be our team leader on the rings and pommel horse."

With a large freshman class for the second straight year, Nelson knows that some growing pains will be natural, but he still expects some contributions from the newcomers.  "Sam Montague will turn a lot of heads.  He has great skills and great execution," Nelson commented.  "Taylor Styer could be a sleeper."

UIC's schedule includes several tough Midwestern opponents, in addition to the New England Championship, in the build-up to the ECAC Championships in early April and the NCAA Championships starting April 19 at UIC Pavilion.  In fact, every opponent the Flames will face in a dual- or tri-meet finished last season in the Top 10. 

Following the Windy City Invitational, which will include Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota, the Flames will return to their usual home at UIC Pavilion on January 21 to host a tri-meet with Iowa and Stanford.  Road trips to Nebraska, Illinois, and Michigan surround a home meet against Minnesota.  Navy will host the ECAC Championships in Annapolis, Md. on April 7.

"As usual, we have a tough, Big 10-heavy schedule," Nelson noted.  "We're looking forward to traveling to Springfield College to see an ECAC foe during the season; we think we match up well with them.

"The home schedule is very well bookended with the Windy City Invitational and the NCAA Championships.  Our goal is to have full team representation at the qualifying and championship rounds.  Some of our athletes are poised to go far.  It all comes down to execution for us."