April 14, 2011

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Prior to kicking off the NCAA championship weekend, the UIC men's gymnastics coaching duo of Charley Nelson and "CJ" Johnson were honored for their efforts in winning the Flames' third-consecutive ECAC title this season.

Head coach Nelson was named the NCAA Division I East Regional Coach of the year, while Johnson was named the assistant coach of the year.

The head coaching award marks the second season the honor has been bestowed upon a UIC coach as Johnson was named such in his final year at the helm prior to retiring in August 2010.

Nelson was recognized as the East Region Assistant Coach of the Year in 2009 and again last season prior to taking over the program this season.

Action at the NCAA Qualifier will get underway this afternoon at 12 p.m. central as UIC faces five other teams in pursuit of the team finals. The Flames are in the same session as top-ranked Oklahoma, the Big Ten trio of Illinois, Penn State and Minnesota with Air Force rounding out the contenders.The top three team scores from each session advance to Friday evening's championships.

All-Around finals will coincide with Friday evening's competition, with the weekend rounding out on Saturday with the individual event finals to be held at 4:30 p.m.

Fresh off the all-around title at the ECAC championships, sophomore Kyle Voissem enters the weekend with the seventh-best all-around average nationally at 83.714. His ECAC winning performance of 87.700 back on April 2 has only been topped by three other athletes this season.