Jan. 12, 2006

Chicago, Ill.- The greatest season-opening spectacle in collegiate men's gymnastics takes place at the UIC Physical Education Building this Saturday night, as the Flames host the 36th annual Windy City Invitational to kick off the 2006 campaign beginning at 7:00 p.m.

UIC will once again face off with the nation's finest in Big Ten powers Illinois, Ohio State, Michigan, Minnesota and Iowa. The Illini come in ranked second in the nation, followed by Ohio State at the No. 3 spot. Michigan (No. 6), Minnesota (No. 8) and Iowa (No. 9) are also ranked in the top ten, while UIC comes in at No. 14.

The Flames will be paced by three defending Eastern College Athletic Conference individual event champions in two-time ECAC all-around title-winner Eric Novick, ECAC pommel horse champ Nick Stavros and conference floor exercise champion Andrew Krueger

The meet once again features a who's who of coaching legends. UIC Head Coach "CJ" Johnson, opening his 32nd season as head coach at UIC, headlines a group of veteran headmasters that includes Miles Avery of Ohio State, Yoshi Hayasaki of Illinois, Tom Dunn of Iowa, and Kurt Golder of Michigan, as well as second-year Minnesota skipper Mike Burns.

Tickets for the Windy City Invitational are $5 for adults and $3 for children ages 12 and under and senior citizens ages 65 and over. UIC students get in free with a valid I-Card.

The UIC All-Sport Ticket, which provides four general admission tickets to all UIC men's and women's gymnastics meets, as well as baseball, softball, soccer, volleyball and women's basketball games, also gives you admission to this event. To purchase a UIC All-Sport Ticket, call the UIC Ticket Office at (312) 413-8421.