UIC Athletics

Years: 1978-1979

Inducted: 1993

UICC's 1978 and 1979 Men's Gymnastics teams dominated NCAA Division II, winning back-to-back championships. Their success paved the way for the University to make the transition to Division I status.

Team Members: Al Bekkedal, Paul Caldwell, Bill Cernicky, John Cherry, Richard Cromwell, Matt Damore, Arnold Gentile, Jim Geske, Mark Gunnells, Steve Kozub, George Martenia, Michael Mitchell, Steve Murakami, George Radice, Dan Smith, Mark Wanner, Paul Zarris

Coach: CJ Johnson
 

Sport: Men's Gymnastics

Years: 1958-1960

Inducted: 1993

Barasch entered the UIC Navy Pier campus with no gymnastic competition experience. Barasch first showed promise during his freshman physical education class, tumbling. Under the guidance of coach Ben Montcalm, Barasch was able to earn a spot on the gymnastics team after only one semester of tumbling. In his two seasons at Navy Pier, Barsch went undefeated and won the tumbling title at the prestigious Midwest Open as a sophomore. Following his career at the Navy Pier campus, Barasch transferred to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he once again won the Midwest Open tumbling title as well as the Central Amateur Athletic Union crown during his junior year. In his senior year at Urbana-Champaign, Barasch once again won the Central AAU tumbling title as well as the NCAA and Big Ten individual titles and was also awarded with All-American honors.

Sport: Men's Gymnastics

Years: 1948-1950

Inducted: 1990

Bedard along with fellow teammate and Hall of Famer Bill Roetzheim formed the nucleus of a gymnastics team that won the National AAU team title in 1949. It was the fourth time in almost 70 years that a collegiate squad had accomplished that feat. For their efforts Bedard & Roetzheim were named Co-Athlete of the Year for the Chicago Illini.

Bedard was a tumbling specialist and won two of his five National AAU titles while at UIC. He was selected to the 1948 U.S. Olympic Team, but never participated in the Games because tumbling was removed from the competition.

Sport: Men's Gymnastics 

Years: 1950-1952

Inducted: 2003

Bollinger was a vital part of one of the greatest men's gymnastics teams in UIC history. In 1952, while the school was based at Navy Pier and the gymnastics program was in its early stages, Bollinger won eight intramural medals while leading the school to an undefeated 5-0-1 record. The versatile Bollinger earned a Central AAU Trampoline Championship in 1950 and a year later he won the Chicago Intercollegiate Diving Championship.

Sport: Men's Gymnastics

Years: 1986-1989

Inducted: 2010

Costa has the distinction of being a two-time Division I All-American for the Flames. As a sophomore Costa helped lead a team that dedicated the season to fellow teammate Edward Saleh, who passed away suddenly. The team pulled together and made it to Nationals that year and Costa earned his highest All-American ranking- third place on the pommel horse.

Sport: Men's Gymnastics

Years: 1968-1972

Inducted: 2001

One of the finest pommel horse competitors in the history of UIC gymnastics, Fox garnered several accolades during his career at UIC. He was a two-time All-American (1970 & 1972) on the pommel horse and the 1972 National Champion in that event. Under head coach Bill Roetzheim, Fox and the rest of the Chikas strung together the finest four-year mark in school history with a 57-19 record.

Sport: Gymnastics 

Years: 1948-1957

Inducted: 1991

Sport: Men's Gymnastics

Years: 1956-1957

Inducted: 2005

Horn is remembered not only as a two time letterman, Most Valuable Player Award, but as a true innovator in the sport of gymnastics. His best event was the Still Rings, which he was the Mid-West Open Champion. In doing so he was so formable on the apparatus that the "Horn" Cross was named after his innovative sequence. The move has since been re-named the Olympic Cross and is still a staple for any world-class gymnast. Horn and his team mates defeated NCAA powerhouse University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana in 1957 on their way to capturing the Mid-West Open.

Sport: Men's Gymnastics

Years: 1991-1994

Inducted: 1999

McDonald was a four year letter winner and when he completed his career he left UIC as the All-Around parallel bar and high bar record holder. In 1993 he participated in the 1993 World Championships and in 1994 was a NCAA All-American.

After UIC, McDonald competed in the 1995 World University Games and represented Ireland in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Won the 1996 Nissan Award for Gymnastics Excellence.

Sport: Men's Gymnastics

Years: 1954-1956

Inducted: 1995

Muzyczko spent two years at the Navy Pier Campus, earning Most Valuable Player honors both seasons for the gymnastics squad. His second year he served as team captain, leading the team to a victory over the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana and the Midwest Open Championship.

Muzyczko concluded his collegiate career at Michigan State where he was an NCAA Champion on the parallel bars and the vault. He was also the co-founder of the National Gymnastics Judges Association and has been inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

Sport: Gymnastics, Administration

Years: 1947-1949

Inducted: 1990

Roetzheim had an outstanding career at UIC as an athlete, coach, and administrator. During his athletic career he along with fellow Hall of Famer Irv Bedard, led the gymnastics team to a 1949 National AAU Team title. Roetzheim and Bedard shared Chicago Illini Athlete of the Year honors in 1948 and 1949.

In 1968, Roetzheim returned to UIC as head gymnastics coach and compiled a 82-25 record over five year span, including three fourth place and one third place finish at the NCAA Division II Championships. In 1974, he assumed the role as Director of Athletics at UIC, and during his 11 years in that position he guided the school to its present NCAA Division I status.

Sport: Men's Gymnastics

Years: 1955-1956

Inducted: 1992

Shurlock competed for the Navy Pier team in 1955-1956 and was the Midwest Open All-Around Champion in 1955 and the National AAU All-Around Champion for Canada the same year. Shurlock concluded his college career at California-Berkeley, and finished second in the NCAA all-around in 1959 and 1960.

He went on to become a highly successful coach at UCLA for over 30 years, developing several Olympic athletes and individual NCAA Champions. In addition to leading the Bruins to 13 consecutive top ten finishes, he guided UCLA to NCAA team titles in 1984 and 1987.

Sport: Men's Gymnastics

Years: 1957-1960

Inducted: 1994

Simms competed two seasons at Navy Pier and was named Most Valuable Gymnast each year. Simms became the first African-American to win the Junior National AAU Men's All-Around Championship. He was also selected as a member of the USA Team.

"My fondest memories of my days at UIC were, winning back-to-back MVP awards, being coached by Ben Montcalm, having great teammates and it's a great honor to be part of this history," says Simms.

Sport: Men's Gymnastics

Years: 1978-1982

Inducted: 2002

Smith helped lead the Flames to a pair of NCAA Division II National Championships in 1978-1979, while vaulting himself to the all-around title at the 1979 National Championships. Smith also garnered All-American honors in 1979 on still rings, horizontal bar, parallel bars, vault and all-around. Smith qualified for the U.S. Championships in 1979, and competed for the U.S. in Mexico in 1978.

Sport: Football, Gymnastics, Track

Years: 1956-1957

Inducted: 1995

Walthouse was a three-sport athlete during his one and a half seasons on the Navy Pier campus, excelling in track, gymnastics and football. On the track he competed in the high and low hurdles, pole vault, discus and relays. He set the school record in the high hurdle event in 1957.

As a gymnast, Walthouse was a horizontal bar, vault and parallel bars competitor. On the gridiron he suited up as an offensive end, defensive inside linebacker and kickoff returner for the football team. Walthouse is grateful for "the coaches and teachers at Navy Pier who prepared me for teaching and coaching."

Sport: Men's Gymnastics

Years: 1972-1976

Inducted: 1994

During his four years competing for the Chikas, Wanner was part of squads that compiled an impressive 52-11 record, including a 14-1 mark his senior season. He earned NCAA All-American honors all four years and was the NCAA Champion on the parallel bars as a sophomore.

In his rookie season, held UICC's season-highs on the high bar (9.35) and in the all-around (53.15). His second place in the all-around competition helped the Chikas to an NCAA Division II Championship. He was a two-time USA Team member and competed at the Olympic trials in both 1972 and 1976.

Sport: Men's Gymnastics

Years: 1993-1997

Inducted: 2004

One of the most decorated UIC student-athletes of all-time, Welker became the fourth Flames gymnast to earn NCAA Division I All-America status in 1996 on the floor exercise, taking third overall on the event at the NCAA National Championships. Welker captured two straight National Independent Championship all-around crowns during his final two seasons. He left UIC with two school records, including a 9.9 floor exercise mark he set four times throughout his illustrious career.

Sport: Men's Gymnastics

Years: 1970-1974

Inducted: 2008

Wojtkiewicz was a three time NCAA All-American (1972, 1973, 1974) and claimed the NCAA Division II pommel horse title in 1973. His senior season, Wojtkiewicz and his team mates took third at the Division II championships. That same year Wojtkiewicz was able to compete at the Division I national meet and placed in the top ten for his specialty event, the pommel horse.

During his career, the men's gymnastics team had a four-year record of 54-16 under Hall of Fame coach Bill Roetzheim, who Wojtkiewicz credits as being highly influential during his athletic career at UIC.