March 26, 2001

Williamsburg, Va. - Senior captain Dave Johnson (Chicago, Ill./ St. Rita) captured UIC's first official Eastern College Athletic Conference men's gymnastics championship with a score of 9.25 on the still rings.

Johnson's score was a full two-and-a-half tenths better than his nearest competitor as runner-ups Southern Connecticut's Curtis Haines and Navy's Dan Finnegan each earned a mark of 9.00. The Chicago native also earned All-East recognition with a fifth-place finish of 9.00 on the vault apparatus.

UIC's Frankie Pretzel (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way) was also feted as the Most Improved Gymnast of the ECAC along with MIT's David Yin. Pretzel has been a four-year member of the Flames' squad, but saw limited action until this year where he cracked the starting line-up in five events.

Junior captain Matthew Soucie (Newmarket, Ontario/Cardinal Carter), also competed in Sunday's individual championships. Soucie narrowly missed All-East recognition as he placed seventh on the vault with a score of 8.85. He also competed in the high bar (11th, 7.05) and pommel horse (8th, 7.40) events.

Freshman Matt Musielak (Freeburg, Ill./Althoff Catholic) placed tenth on the parallel bars with a mark of 7.65. Senior Anthony Cirullo (Glenwood, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor) advanced to Sunday's championships but was unable to compete due to a back injury suffered during warm-ups on Saturday.