Oct. 17, 2008

Chicago, Ill. - The UIC men's gymnastics team will face three of the top team's from last seasons NCAA championship, it was revealed as the team announced the 2009 schedule on Friday.

The Flames will jump start the season with the 39th annual Windy City Invitational in the PEB on January 17, featuring some of the top teams in the country. Competition gets underway at 7 p.m.

In the first of five match-ups against Big Ten opposition, UIC travels to face-off against Iowa on January 24 at 2 p.m. The squad closes out January with a home meet against Temple on the 31st at 5 p.m.

February has the Flames traveling to Michigan on the 7th, then to Ohio State on the 21st. UIC will host Minnesota on Saturday, February 28 at 5 p.m.

The final home competition for UIC is a pair of meets against Air Force on March 20 and 22.

In preparation for both the ECAC and NCAA championships, the squad will travel to face sister school Illinois on March 7. The Illini finished third at the 2008 NCAA team competition. In the final weekend of March, the Flames will travel to Palo Alto, California to face the runner-up in the team competition at Stanford on the 28th.

The Flames will look to capture the ECAC Championship, held at West Point on April 4th and 5th before heading to Minneapolis, Minn., the site of the 2009 NCAA championships.