June 4, 2015




2014-15 UIC Athletics Accomplishments ➢ POINTS OF PRIDE
• Athletic Director Jim Schmidt was chosen for the 2014-15 Under Armour Athletic Director of the Year Award, announced by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). Schmidt is one of 28 award winners across all seven divisions and one of four among the D-I AAA grouping.
• UIC athletics renovated the gymnasium inside the Physical Education Building by transforming the venue into a multipurpose training facility. A turf baseball diamond now covers the 34,000 square feet of floor space that was once hardwood.
• UIC student-athlete founded service program SPARK (Students Performing Acts of Random Kindness) was featured on AOL News, Fox News, WGN, Comcast and WCIU. SPARK's sole mission is to feed the homeless population of Chicago using money donated through friends, family and supporters of the cause.
• UIC's Strength and Conditioning Coach Nick Zostautas was named a Master Strength and Conditioning Coach by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association. The honor is the highest of its kind in the profession and held by a mere 157 individuals across the country.
• Flames unveiled the UIC's Letterman's Club, an organization exclusively designed for former student-athletes and coaches.
• The baseball team picked up its 11th Horizon League regular season title and tied a program-record with 22 conference wins.
• The softball team won 14 games in Horizon League play and claimed a share of the regular season conference title, the 14th in program history.

➢ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS
• Spring 2015 GPA of 3.08 is the highest in the department's history, besting Spring 2011's 3.06.
• 178 Honor Roll students equals 58 percent of all student-athletes.
• Thirty-seven students had a 4.0 GPA in Spring 2015, surpassing the previous record of 33 from Fall 2014.
• Eighteen of UIC's 20 teams had at least a 2.85 grade-point average, with ten teams surpassing the 3.0 mark.

➢ 16 Individual Specialty Award Winners
• Horizon League Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Year, Tess Ehrhardt, Senior
• Horizon League Women's Soccer Goalkeeper of the Year, Kelly Fritz, Freshman
• Horizon League Volleyball Co-Player of the Year, Stephenee Yancy, Junior
• Horizon League Volleyball Freshman of the Year, Nicole Johnson, Freshman
• Horizon League Women's Basketball Defensive Player of the Year, Ruvanna Campbell, Junior
• Horizon League Women's Swimming Freshman of the Year, Brianna Hines
• Horizon League Women's Golf Coach of the Year, Carol Rhoades
• Horizon League Softball Pitcher of the Year, Elaine Heflin, Sophomore
• Horizon League Softball Freshman of the Year, Tiana Mack-Miller
• Horizon League Baseball Player of the Year, Jeff Boehm, Senior
• Horizon League Baseball Pitcher of the Year, Jake Dahlberg, Sophomore
• Horizon League Baseball Coach of the Year, Mike Dee
• ECAC Men's Gymnastics Senior Gymnast of the Year, Jason Gaides, Senior
• Horizon League Scholar-Athlete of the Month (September), Kyle Hauser, Sophomore, Cross Country
• Horizon League Scholar-Athlete of the Month (October), Kyle Hauser, Sophomore, Cross Country
• Horizon League Scholar-Athlete of the Month (November), Tess Ehrhardt, Senior, Cross Country

➢ 6 Regional and National Honors
• Women's Cross Country: Tess Ehrhardt, Senior (NCAA Midwest All-Regional Team)
• Volleyball: Stephenee Yancy, Junior (AVCA Honorable Mention All-Region Honors)
• Softball: Elaine Heflin, Sophomore (NFCA Third-Team)
• Softball: Tiana Mack-Miller, Freshman (NFCA Second-Team)
• Baseball: Jeff Boehm, Senior (Louisville Slugger Third-Team All-American)
• Women's Soccer: Jasmin Carrera, Sophomore (Mundial Sports Network's Best of the Best Award Nominee)

➢ 46 Horizon League, MIC or ECAC Player/Athlete of the Week Selections

➢ 77 Horizon League, MIC or ECAC All-League Selections

➢ COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
• UIC men's tennis player Mitch Granger began the student-athlete service program SPARK (Students Performing Acts of Random Kindness) in November of 2014. SPARK has fed over 600 of the homeless population in Chicago.
• UIC student-athletes took part in UI Health's Pink Glove Dance in September. The event was a dance video contest designed to raise awareness for breast cancer.
• UIC student-athletes and staff members hosted a holiday party in December for children who were patients at the nearby UI Hospital.
• Sparky D. Dragon, the official mascot of the UIC Flames, aided in #CoponaRooftop in May to heighten awareness and raise money for the Law Enforcement Torch Run to benefit Special Olympics Illinois.

TEAM SPORT NOTABLES

➢ Baseball
2013-14 Record: 24-27 (17-13 Horizon)
2014-15 Record: 29-22-1 (22-8 Horizon)
• Won the Horizon League regular season championship for the 11th time under head coach Mike Dee
• Tied the program record with 22 conference victories
• Mike Dee surpassed the 500-career win total and then went on to become the program's all-time leader in victories (523), surpassing Hall-of-Famer Les Miller
• Fielding percentage of .979 ranked sixth in the nation and .390 on-base percentage was 19th nationally

➢ Softball
2013-14 Record: 16-28 (8-10 Horizon)
2014-15 Record: 24-22 (14-6 Horizon)
• Won a share of the Horizon League regular season championship
• Collected the 14th conference championship in program history
• Horizon League Pitcher (Elaine Heflin) and Freshman of the Year (Tiana Mack-Miller) awarded to UIC in the same season for the first time since 2004
• Tiana Mack-Miller became just the second player in UIC history to earn Freshman of the Year, First Team All-League and All-Freshman Team distinctions in the same year

➢ 10 Individual NCAA Championship Participants
• Gabrielle May, Senior (Women's Gymnastics)
• Alexander Dumstorf, Sophomore (Men's Gymnastics)
• Trent Jarrett, Junior (Men's Gymnastics)
• Jacob Thurber, Sophomore (Men's Gymnastics)
• Brett Valin, Senior (Men's Gymnastics)
• Jason Gaides, Senior (Men's Gymnastics)
• Whitney Johnson, Senior (Women's Diving)
• Rachel Criscione, Freshman (Women's Diving)
• Tyler Pastore, Sophomore (Men's Diving)
• Mark Ciesielski, Junior (Men's Diving)