UIC won the Midwest Independent Conference championship for the first time since 2013, and the record 13^th time overall, Friday night at Centenary College.

The Flames had three individual champions for the first time since 2008.  Riley Mahoney won the vault title, Serena Baker won bars for the second straight year, and Kayla Baddeley was the all-around champion.

"Pretty incredible!" co-head coach Peter Jansson exclaimed, when asked for his reaction to the finish.  "Under tons of pressure in the last rotation, they came through and won the championship they had been aiming for.  We could not be more proud!" he added.

The three winners also earned first team All-Conference honors in their respective events, as did Sabrina Tomassini on bars, Miki Northern on beam, and Baddeley on floor.  Baddeley and Northern were second team All-Conference finishers on vault, and Northern added that distinction in the all-around.  Baddeley (beam) and Alisa Sheremeta (floor) rounded out the Flames on the second team.

The Flames finished strong on floor in the last rotation of the meet, and posted enough high scores to battle back from a deficit of 0.125 after three events.  An atypically low score on bars had set the team behind Lindenwood by 0.200 once both teams completed two rotations.  With the Lions having already wrapped up their meet, UIC knew they had to score at least 49.100 on floor.  They hit that number on the nose to finish in a tie for first place.
 
Rotation 1 – Vault

• Riley Mahoney led the Flames with a conference championship 9.825.  She tied two other gymnasts for the MIC title.
• Kayla Baddeley followed with a score of 9.800.  It tied her for fourth place.
• Miki Northern and Maddie Nowak each tied their season high.  Northern scored 9.775, good for sixth, and Nowak posted a 9.750.
• The team score, 48.850, matched the second highest score of the season, which UIC achieved twice in the last three weeks.

Rotation 2 – Bars

• Serena Baker defended her bars championship by a 0.050 point margin.  She scored 9.850 for the fourth straight meet, and has scored that high or higher in each of the last seven outings.
• Sabrina Tomassini had the Flames' next highest score with a 9.775 from the leadoff spot.  She tied for third overall.
• Toni Alicke scored 9.750 to finish in the top 10, and Kayla Baddeley scored 9.700.
• Miki Northern fell during a transition, meaning UIC had to count Alisa Sheremeta's 9.525, which she was awarded after taking a step on her landing.  The team's score of 48.600 put them in second place after each team completed two rotations.

Rotation 3 – Beam

• Northern tied her career high by scoring 9.825.  She finished second, a half-tenth behind the winner.
• Baddeley had a very strong performance worth 9.800 and a tie for fourth place.
• Sheremeta's 9.775 set the tone for the second half of the lineup, which came through with the high scores it needed after an earlier fall.
• The Flames made up ground on beam, shaving 0.075 off of Lindenwood's lead after both teams finished their third rotation.

Rotation 4 – Floor

• Baddeley established a new career high with a 9.875, and finished second.
• Sheremeta's 9.850 was good for fourth place.
• Alicke matched her career high, 9.825, and finished inside the top 10.
• Going into the rotation, the Flames needed 49.100 points to match Lindenwood, who had already concluded their meet.  After Abby Hasanov pulled up with an apparent injury as she approached her second tumbling pass, and had to cut her routine short, there was no margin for error.  Ashley Albrecht and Northern, in the anchor position, each scored 9.775 to give the Flames the score they needed.

All-Around

• Baddeley was the all-around champion with a total of 39.175.  She topped Ryan Henry of Lindenwood by 0.075.
• Northern finished sixth in the all-around at 38.600.

Up Next

• The Flames increased their National Qualifying Score with their team total of 195.350.
• After other conference meets around the country conclude on Saturday, the final NQS will be calculated for every team.
• The top 36 teams will qualify for NCAA Regionals.  Individuals who have the highest NQSs in each event, and are not on qualifying teams, will also qualify.