Kayla Baddeley became UIC's first-ever individual national champion, taking the vault title at the USAG National event finals on Sunday.

Baddeley also placed third on beam, leading a Flames contingent that placed someone in the top three of each event.  Alisa Sheremeta took second on floor, and Serena Baker was third on bars.

"Kayla has been cool as a cucumber her whole career.  She was just as cool under pressure today competing against the best of the best," co-head coach Peter Jansson said.  "She nailed her routines on vault and beam in what basically amounted to back-to-back performances.  Alisa and Serena had truly great accomplishments finishing in the top three in the country."
 
Vault and beam were the first two events to be contested, putting Baddeley on center stage for the first half of the meet.  On vault, she proved to be the class of the field.  Baddeley's total was 9.850, easily outdistancing the second place score of 9.775.  All scores from the four-judge panel were averaged to determine the final scores.  One judge rated her a 9.9, and two others awarded her 9.85.  Only one other 9.85 was awarded the rest of the meet.

Baddeley was just as consistent on beam.  She received three 8.5s and an 8.0 for a final score of 9.850.  That tied her career high.  (On beam, bars, and floor, the high and low score were thrown out and the middle two averaged.)  Baddeley was the only event champion who also had a top-three finish in a different event.

Sheremeta was the first Flame to compete in the second half of the meet.  She dazzled with her floor routine, nailing each tumbling pass and moving with a graceful ease that has become her trademark.  She earned two 9.9s and had a final average of 9.875.  She was in first place after competing, and nearly held on for the title.  Only a near-perfect routine by Air Force's Tyler Davis – a 9.950 set – topped Sheremeta's performance.

Baker and Toni Alicke were among the final competitors on bars.  Baker's clean set, reminiscent of her MIC-winning performance at the conference meet three weeks ago, earned her three 9.8s and therefore a total of 9.800.  Alicke suffered only a small wobble as she went into a handstand on the low bar.  She recovered very quickly, but it was enough to drop her down to a 9.750.  Baker finished behind two gymnasts who each scored 9.850.  Alicke finished in a tie for sixth place.

Before the meet, individual awards that were announced at the banquet on Thursday were formally presented.  Mikailla Northern received the Mari-Rae Sopper award, and the Senior Gymnast of the Year award.  Co-head coaches Peter and Mary Jansson were named the USAG Coaches of the Year.

The individual event finals wrapped up the USAG Nationals weekend, along with the Flames' season.  The record-breaking campaign saw UIC score 195 or higher as a team 10 times, and rattle off 10 straight first place finishes.  They won the team MIC title and finished as the national runner-up last night, when they scored over 196 for the second time.