Final Results

CHICAGO - The UIC men's gymnastics team held its first meet of the season Friday night at the UIC Pavilion against Illinois. The Flames finished the night with 390.150, falling short to Illinois' total score of 429.100. Friday's event was the Flames' first competition inside the UIC Pavilion in program history, previously competing inside the Physical Education Building (PEB).

"The Pavilion is where we should compete, our athletes have earned this," said head coach Charley Nelson. "We are the high-level athletes that should compete in a top-notch arena and that is the Pavilion."

UIC began on the floor exercise where Travis Burke scored 13.300 coming in fifth-place. Senior Jason Gaides accumulated a total of 80.400 points in the all-around. On horizontal bar, Gaides led his teammates with a score of 13.800.

"This is a very early season meet against a very tough opponent, we knew it was going to be an uphill battle from the start," said Nelson. "I was really proud of the guys the way they stuck with it."

Senior Brett Valin broke a school record on vault, tying for first-place with a score of 15.000. Valin also competed on parallel bars recording a score of 14.600.

Valin will be presented with the Edward J. Saleh Memorial Award and Scholarship at the Windy City Invitational. The honor is given to a UIC senior gymnast every year who best exemplifies academic and athletic excellence representing the UIC men's gymnastics program. The award is given in memory of Edward Jay Saleh, a former UIC gymnast who was killed in a motorcycle accident.

The Flames are back at the UIC Pavilion on Saturday, Jan. 17 when they host the annual Windy City Invitational. Competition is scheduled to get underway at 7:30 p.m. CT.