Dec. 4, 2014
CHICAGO - The UIC men's and women's gymnastics teams will get their respective seasons underway on Sunday, Dec. 7 with the annual Mixed Pairs exhibition meet. Competition is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. CT. in the Physical Education Building.
The men's and women's squads will be divided into co-ed teams. The men will compete on floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar and the women will contend on vault, uneven bars, beam and floor.
"Our core of sophomores are going to be the key in 2015 as they follow the experienced leadership of senior captains Brett Valin and Jason Gaides," said head coach Charley Nelson.
The men's squad returns three seniors for the 2015 season. These seniors are Brett Valin, Kyle Christiansen and Jason Gaides.
During last year's competition, Gaides produced team-best scores on pommel horse (13.85) and high bar (12.90). Valin competed on vault scoring a 14.00 and Christiansen scored a 13.60 on parallel bars.
"Jason has a strong chance of being a Nissen-Emery Award finalist and I expect him to lead the team as UIC's top all-arounder in 2015," said Nelson. The "Heisman Trophy" of gymnastics, the Nissen-Emery Award is presented annually to the year's outstanding senior collegiate gymnast.
In 2014, Gaides competed at the ECAC Championships and advanced to the NCAA Championships in all-around competition. He recorded a season best all-around score of 89.950 against Iowa. Gaides also had seven performances in which he posted a score of at least 80.000 in all-around competition.
"Brett has trained like a man on a mission and his first goal is to get UIC back atop the ECAC," said Nelson. "I expect Brett to challenge for a top-five all-around finish at the ECAC with NCAA berths on vault, parallel bars, and high bar. He has a strong chance to finish in the top-eight at the NCAA Championships."
During the 2014 season, Valin was one of UIC's main all-around competitors who advanced to the NCAA Championships in vault and parallel bars. He also scored a season best 14.800 on vault at Illinois. Christiansen tailed a season-best score of 14.000 on vault against Illinois. He also scored a season best score of 13.650 on high bars at Air Force.
"The sophomore class will do the heavy lifting in 2015," said Nelson. "Christopher Root and Jacob Thurber will be key contributors on at least four events and they should push to compete in all six by March."
In 2014, Root primarily competed in the floor exercise and pommel horse. He tallied a season-best score of 13.800 on the floor and 13.850 on parallel bars against Iowa. Thurber mostly competed on the floor exercise, vault, and parallel bars. Prior to getting injured, Thurber notched his best score in floor exercise (14.400) against SUNY-Brockport.
The Flames begin the regular season on Jan. 9 when they host Illinois. For the first time in program history, all UIC home meets will be held at the UIC Pavilion.
"It is going to be an exciting season as we move to the UIC Pavilion for all home competitions," said Nelson. "This move is perfect as UIC prepares to host the 2018 NCAA Gymnastics Championships."
