UIC's women's gymnastics team continues its 2018 schedule with a dual meet at Western Michigan Sunday.  It will be the second of five straight road meets to start the season, and the first of two visits to Kalamazoo this spring.
 
Through the Rotations

• Mikailla Northern, last season's Midwest Independent Conference Athlete of the Year, garnered the conference's first Gymnast of the Week award of 2018.  She turned in three top-3 performances in four rotations, winning the floor exercise, taking second on the vault, and placing third on the beam in the Flames' season-opening meet against Northern Illinois and NC State.  Northern was second in the all-around competition.
• Serena Baker won the uneven parallel bars competition last weekend and posted a career high-tying score in doing so.  She was named the MIC's Specialist of the Week.
• Kayla Baddeley made it a clean sweep for the Flames, as she earned Newcomer of the Week honors to give UIC all three weekly recognitions.  She won the balance beam event with a score of 9.825.
• After one meet, the Flames rank 26^th in the country based on team all-around scores.  The team ranks 19^th on the bars.  Northern and Baddeley have the team's highest individual rankings.  Northern is 24^th in the all-around, and Baddeley checks in at 29^th on the beam.

Last Time Out

• UIC finished second, 0.5 points behind NC State, and nearly a full point clear of NIU, in the season opener last Sunday.
• In addition to the MIC-honored gymnasts, UIC got contributions up and down the lineup.
• Katie Snyder and Toni Alicke helped the Flames finish first on the bars.
• Riley Mahoney set a new career high on the beam, which was also a team win for UIC.
• The freshman class stepped up on the floor exercise, with Baddeley and Ashley Albrecht posting two of the team's top three scores.

Bronco Bounces

• Western Michigan will be making their 2018 debut Sunday.
• The Broncos were picked to finish fifth in the MAC preseason poll voted on by the conference's head coaches.
• Ten gymnasts, including NCAA Regional qualifier Rachael Underwood, return from last year's squad.
• The Flames and Broncos met twice last season.  Across the two meets, Mikailla Northern set career bests on the vault, bars, beam, and all-around.
• WMU edged the Flames, 195.300-194.200 in Chicago, but UIC exacted revenge in Kalamazoo with a 195.175-194.300 result.