March 31, 2007

Recap |  Complete Results

UIC Co-Head Coach Peter Jansson

On the Flames' fast start:
"We got off to a great start. Vault was very solid, bars was fantastic. We landed almost every dismount on bars and really separated ourselves on the first two events."

On the Flames' shaky beam showing following a bye in the third rotation:
"It almost threw us off a little to have the bye, and we came out a little shaky and a little careful on beam. When two of our best guns on beam [Annie Kachman and Rachael Zelinski] had trouble, it opened the door for the rest of the field, and that's where we really had to take a look and move forward."

On the pressure heading into the final rotation:
"There was a lot of pressure going into floor. Justine [Weyer] hurting her ankle a little, Tristan [Erlenbaugh] having to move in quickly, it put a lot of pressure on them. Floor wasn't as sharp as we wanted it to be, but it comes down to those things. That's sports, and when there are days you can win when you're not perfect or on top of your game, you're having a good year."

On winning the State of Illinois Classic and MIC Championships in back-to-back weeks and the chances for an NCAA Regional at-large bid:
"To win the state title and the conference championship, those are two of three goals that we have every year, so I think it really makes this a fantastic year right here. It's very exciting.

"We have one more goal. We have to make it to NCAAs. It comes down to who's going to get the seed and who's going to get the at-large bid tonight between a couple of the Big Ten and Big XII schools. So once we see what their results are, hopefully there's an at-large spot waiting for us tonight."

On the feeling of winning the state and MIC titles as opposed to an NCAA Regional berth:
"It really feels good in the sense that the Regional is something you hope to qualify for, but the other two are championships that you are fighting to win. It's nice to prove it on the floor like these girls did."