UIC set season highs on floor and parallel bars, and had outstanding routines and near-team highs on vault and high bar, in their meet with Springfield and Penn State Sunday afternoon at UIC Dorin Forum.  The Flames scored 356.550, their second best score of the season, and took third place.  The Nittany Lions finished first, scoring 395.450, and the ECAC rival Pride scored 372.900.

"Highs and lows," head coach Charley Nelson summed up when reflecting on the meet.  "We started out phenomenally on floor and we finished strong on p-bars and high bar.  But we had some uncharacteristic falls on rings and pommel horse, which you just can't do.  We'll get back in the gym the next two weeks and get ready for our trip to Nebraska.  We will see Springfield again in a month and a half [at the ECAC Championships].  They finished ahead of us today but if you look at the individual scores, we are not that far behind at all.  Springfield knows what we can do, and we have a goal now to get a different result at conference."

Rotation 1 – Floor

• Sam Montague set a new season high with a 13.850.  He was seventh overall.
• Kaleb Booth turned in a spirited routine worth 13.350, easily marking a new career high by 0.75.  He also placed in the top 10 at #9.
• James Marden also had the best score of his career, 12.900.  That included a stick bonus.
• Andrew Mattson, Nick Smiley, and AJ Hardin all set season highs as well.
• UIC led after one rotation with a 65.150 total on floor, their highest team score in the event in almost exactly two years (65.750 on February 11, 2017).

Rotation 2 – Pommel Horse

• Colin Schwartz led the Flames on pommels for the fourth straight meet.  His score of 11.350 was good for ninth place.
• Michael Peluso led a trio of Flames, including Sam Montague and Eric Barnd, in consecutive spots in the standings.
• Penn State took the top four spots in the event and gained seven points in the team standings on pommel horse alone.

Rotation 3 – Still Rings

• Wes Diveney continued his solid season on rings.  His team high score of 12.100 tied him for 10^th place.
• Billy Hollis turned in an 11.500 point routine.
• Nick Smiley and Paul Burney each broke the 11 point mark.  Burney set a season high.

Rotation 4 – Vault

• Paul Burney led the way for UIC, scoring 13.600 and setting a season high.  He took sixth place in the meet.
• Sam Montague followed with a 13.200 and a top-10 showing.
• AJ Hardin, Colin Schwartz, and Kaleb Booth were tightly bunched with scores between 12.950 and 13.100.  The team's vault score was just two tenths shy of the season high.

Rotation 5 – Parallel Bars

• Nick Smiley had the team's highest score, and highest individual finish of the meet.  He posted a 12.700 which put him in third place.
• Colin Schwartz (12.450, 6th) and Eric Barnd (12.050) each surpassed the 12-point barrier.  Schwartz tied his season high.
• Xan Weaver scored 11.850.
• With a total of 60.500, the Flames set a new season standard on p-bars.

Rotation 6 – High Bar

• Paul Burney turned in an impressive routine and stuck his landing to earn a score of 12.600 – the highest for any Flame this season – and fourth place overall.
• Sam Montague had the team's next best score, an 11.500.
• Sam Norwood had another solid set in his second meet of the season and posted an 11.350.

All-Around

• Montague was the only Flame to complete the all-around.
• He totaled 70.450, a season high and his first score over 70, and took third.

Up Next

• After another week off, the Flames will return to action against two more Big Ten teams.
• The team will travel to Nebraska for a tri-meet with the Cornhuskers and Minnesota.