March 8, 2013
CHICAGO - With a short turnaround, the No. 15 UIC men's gymnastics team prepares to take on No. 4 Ohio State Saturday at St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio, at 3 p.m. (CT). The Flames previously faced the Buckeyes at the Windy City Invitational earlier this season.
UIC is coming off of a double meet weekend where they faced No. 11 Air Force twice in three days. Despite falling to the Falcons in both meets, the Flames came away with their highest score of the season, 411.750, on Sunday, March 3.
Through the two meets, Dan Zerbel, Lukasz Adamczyk, Justin Maxwell and Brett Valin posted the best scores for UIC through the six events, as Joseph Hodges came away with a season-high all-around score of 84.100 in the first meeting.
Zerbel took second and produced season-high scores on floor with 14.900 and on parallel bars with 14.400 while competing on Friday, March 1, as Maxwell took a 14.550 on rings.
At Sunday's meet, Zerbel captured a 14.400 on horizontal bar for second, as Valin finished with a 14.850 on vault.
Adamczyk led the Flames on pommel horse with a season-high 14.950 on Sunday, as they won the event with a score of 68.550 after Jason Gaides took second with 14.050 and Hodges came in third with 13.950.
The Flames enter Saturday's competition after contending with Ohio State at the Windy City Invitational on Jan. 19, when the Buckeyes score of 427.750 bested UIC's 401.600. Ohio State is coming off of a meet against No. 7 Illinois on Feb. 23, where the Buckeyes fell 438.600-438.000.
