April 6, 2002

Tempe, Ariz. - The University of Illinois at Chicago women's gymnastics team put a lid on its impressive record-breaking 2002 season by finishing sixth at the NCAA South Central Regional on Saturday night at Arizona State University.

Top-ranked UCLA was crowned the Regional champion with a score of 197.425, followed by No.12 Arizona (194.950), No.18 Arizona State (194.875), No.17 Brigham Young (194.0), Cal State Fullerton (192.0) and the Flames (191.925).

UCLA and Arizona now advance to the NCAA National Championships in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on April 18-20. The Flames started the night off on vault and senior Jaclyn Messerges led it off with a solid 9.7.

Following a team tally of 47.9 on vault, UIC moved to bars where it put things together, scoring a 48.15. Messerges led the barrage once again in her final collegiate meet with a 9.775.

Fellow senior Kimberly Sommer and Jennifer O'Neil also recorded scores of 9.65 to aid the Flames' bars cause.

As the Flames moved to beam, it appeared that they had fifth-place in their sights after freshmen Stacey Magiera and Alyson Cacciatore each had excellent routines with a 9.625 and 9.65 respectively.

But an uncharacteristic mediocre floor performance pushed the Flames down to sixth.

Senior Sara Casica finished up her Flames career with a score of 9.7 to lead the Flames on floor. She also added a nice effort on beam with a score of 9.775.

Also putting the finishing touches on their UIC careers were Nadia Ori, Amy August and Erica Varner.

Ori had her best score on floor with a 9.6, while Varner scored a 9.575 on vault. August had a 9.5 on beam.

As an impressive consolation prize, UIC Associate Athletic Director Susan Kovacs was selected as the South Central Region Administrator of the Year for the second consecutive season.