Feb. 10, 2002

Results

Chicago, Ill. - When the Orange and Blue roll into town, the stakes of competition increase dramatically.

For the University of Illinois at Chicago women's gymnastics team, the stakes were in favor of the Flames on Sunday afternoon.

The Flames knocked off Illinois 193.950-193.700 in front of nearly 800 fans, as UIC looks to be in control of the State gymnastics scene.

"This is our biggest rivalry when competing for pride so this was a big weekend for us," said co-head coach Peter Jansson.

On the men's side, UIC scored a season-high of 204.200, but it wasn't enough to fend off the second-ranked team in the nation, Illinois, as the Illini finished with a score of 207.900.

In the women's competition, UIC took three-of-four individual event titles on the afternoon, as Atlin Mitchell won the floor exercise (9.825), Sara Casica tied with Illinois' Jana Gallagher for the win on beam (9.850) and Erica Varner equaled two Illinois competitors, winning the vault competition (9.775).

Down 145.075-145.025 after three rotations, the Flames moved to floor exercise where they have been nearly flawless in the past two weeks.

It was no different on Sunday, as UIC outscored the Illini by .3 on the floor to garner the victory. The Flames grabbed the top four spots on floor, as Varner (9.800), Jennifer O'Neil (9.775) and Jamie Grabowski (9.775) followed Mitchell to stymie the Illini.

"The credit goes to the kids, it was that close after three rotations and they responded well," Jansson added.

For the UIC men's team, freshman Neil Faustino continued his winning ways, remaining undefeated on vault and winning the all-around competition against the Illini.

Faustino grabbed the win on vault with a score of 9.550, while winning the all-around with a score of 50.700. The Stockton, California native also placed third on the parallel bars, scoring an 8.400.

"We're building a program here and Neil is just another brick in our path to doing so," said men's coach "CJ" Johnson. "He really competed well."

Sophomore Matt Musielak picked up a win on the pommel horse with an excellent routine, scoring a 9.100.

As a whole, the Flames continued their excellence on vault, finishing with a score of 36.850, besting Illinois who finished at 36.000.

The women will not have much time to rest, as they will be back in action Tuesday when they travel down I-55 for a match-up with Illinois State in Normal.

The men tumble back into action on Saturday, Feb. 16, at Michigan.