March 25, 2001

Williamsburg, Va. - The men's gymnastics team scored 201.55 points to finish sixth out of ten teams in their first official appearance at the Eastern College Athletic Conference championships on Saturday.

Massachusetts captured the team title with 208.05 points, followed by Temple (207.20), William and Mary (206.50), Navy (203.90), Army (202.90), UIC, Southern Connecticut (192.75), Springfield (191.25), MIT (164.75) and Vermont (162.41).

Senior captain Dave Johnson (Chicago, Ill./St. Rita) led the way for the Flames as he advanced to Sunday's individual event championships with a first-place finish on the still rings with a score of 9.3.

Johnson also tied with teammate and fellow captain Matthew Soucie (Newmarket, Ontario/Cardinal Carter) for third place on the vault (9.1). Overall, UIC was the top team on the vault with a score of 36.15. Soucie finished eighth overall in the all-around (50.5) which included top-team performances on the pommel horse (8.45) and the horizontal bar (8.25).

Senior Anthony Cirullo (Glenwood, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor) also advanced to the vault championships with a sixth-place finish of 9.05 on the apparatus. He added the Flames' top score on the floor exercise with an 8.75.

Freshman Matt Musielak (Freeburg, Ill./Althoff Catholic) returned to action following a bout with mononucleosis and was the high-man on the parallel bars for the Flames with an 8.4.