In a Friday night tri-meet, UIC finished strong with improved performances in the final three rotations, and scored 359.900 points against host Illinois and Air Force.  The seventh-ranked Illini won the meet with 405.700 points, with Air Force coming in second.  The Flames added five points to their total from last week, which was the first competition under the five-up, five-count rule.

"It was a solid night for the Flames," head coach Charley Nelson said.  "As this young team continues to develop, we are going to continue closing the gap between Air Force and UIUC."  The Flames did indeed finish closer to the Illini than they did in the Windy City Invitational to open the season.

"We were outmatched tonight, but I don't think that's going to last."

Rotation 1 – Still Rings

• Liam Maddon hit a season high, scoring 13.150.  He tied for seventh place.
• Satchel Hudson and Wes Diveney each turned in a quality routine worth over 12 points.
• Peluso and Victor Bello also contributed to the team's total of 60.800, which was an increase of 3.300 from last week.

Rotation 2 – Floor

• Sam Montague's season high 13.500 was the team's highest score, and good for a tie for sixth place.
• Hudson and Matthew Whittington finished consecutively with scores of 12.550 and 12.350 respectively.
• Freshman Taylor Styer, back in the lineup for the first time since the Windy City Invitational, competed on the floor for the first time.
• "Taylor Styer saw action on some new events," Nelson noted.  "He did well, but there were definitely some nerves.  Sam Montague was the other side of the coin.  As he gets more experience under his belt it's like you can see the ice in his veins increasing."

Rotation 3 – Pommel Horse

• Colin Schwartz led the Flames on pommels.  He was the only member of the team to score above 12.
• Michael Peluso was the team's next highest scorer, and beat out Air Force's last gymnast.
• Illinois dominated the event with the top four scores.

Rotation 4 – High Bar

• Peluso set a season high, scoring 12.450 and finishing sixth.  Montague also easily surpassed his previous season high with a 12.050.
• Asad Jooma was neck-and-neck with Montague in the standings.  He scored a tenth of a point less than his teammate.
• AJ Hardin, competing in just one event for the first time since the season opener, contributed an 11.350.
• With a team total of 59.500, UIC flew past last week's score.

Rotation 5 – Vault

• The Flames also saw an uptick in their vault team total.  Asad Jooma placed sixth with a 14.000.
• Victor Bello's 13.900 was just a tenth off of his season high.
• All five Flames who competed in the five-up lineup scored 13.000 or higher.  "As a team, vault was the best we've done in weeks," Nelson observed.

Rotation 6 – Parallel Bars

• Schwartz notched another team-high score.  His 12.550 came just 0.050 shy of his season high.
• Hudson was right behind him with a 12.100.
• Two freshmen rounded out the lineup.  Styer competed in his return to action, and Zach Traylor made his collegiate debut on the p-bars.  He scored 11.400, leading Nelson to state, "Zach had a nice NCAA debut, especially considering some evident nervousness that is to be expected."
• The team's total was yet another improved score from last week, as UIC made it three-for-three in improving their standing in the second half of the meet.

All-Around

• The five-up lineup restriction did not afford any of the three teams an opportunity to enter an all-arounder in all six events.
• Hudson competed in five rotations, the most of any gymnast in the meet.  He sat out the high bar.

Up Next

• The Flames will close the regular season on Saturday, March 31.
• The final meet before the ECAC Championships will be a dual at Michigan.
• Nelson is looking to the layoff to get some key competitors healthy.  "I'm hopeful we will have Steen Haugsted and Tyler Ball back as we get closer to the conference championship as we try to improve on last year's finish," he said.