FINAL RESULTS

CHICAGO- The UIC women's gymnastics team fell to MAC-member Western Michigan (193.025-194.425) Sunday afternoon at the UIC Pavilion. The Flames' score of 193.025 is the team's highest so far this season.

"It was good coming home and facing a tough opponent," head coach Peter Jansson said. "Today's competition was a big step forward, earning the season-high score. We feel like we still have a few things to fix and we are looking forward to next week, but today was a good confidence boost for us."

The Flames began competition on one of their strongest events, earning a team score of 48.550 on vault. Senior captain Gabrielle May took second and set a new career-best, earning a 9.825 on the apparatus. Sophomore Nikki Woodruff finished next for UIC in sixth with a score of 9.725. Senior Chelsea Bailey also set a new personal record, earning a 9.675.

UIC then continued its success onto bars, defeating the Broncos by a margin of 48.500-48.400. May ended the event on top, tying for first place with a score of 9.775. Seniors Citlali Cuevas and Kimberly Randall followed, tying for third with a score of 9.725. The Flames ended the second rotation leading the Broncos by a margin of 97.175-97.050.

On beam, sophomores Emily DeCesare and Nikki Woodruff both set personal-bests. DeCesare tied for second place with a score of 9.750, while Woodruff came away with fifth (9.700). Cuevas was next in sixth with a 9.675 followed by May in seventh with a 9.600.

"It was our best beam performance of the year," Jansson said. "Only one gymnast actually came off the apparatus and that is a huge step forward for us."

In the final rotation, May was the top finisher tying for fifth with a score of 9.700 on floor. DeCesare and Bailey tied for seventh (9.625), earning Bailey another career-best. May finished all-around competition tying for first place with a score of 38.900 followed by Woodruff in third. Woodruff's 38.400 all-around score was UIC's sixth career-best score set at Sunday's meet.

The Flames will now travel to Ypsilanti, Mich. to take on Eastern Michigan in a dual meet on Sunday, Feb. 15 at noon CT.