Dec. 3, 2001

Chicago, Ill. - On Saturday at the UIC Physical Education Building, the Flames' gymnastics programs were on display, and it was evident that the talent upgrades that women's coach Peter Jansson and men's coach "CJ" Johnson have spoken about is for real.

At the annual UIC Mixed Pairs Competition, both the experience and youth of each squad showed flashes, as Team Two, which comprised of Jennifer O'Neil, Amy August, Chris Coorlim, Keith Kerrigan and Mason Vernon won the competition with an average score of 8.463.

Team Two was able to edge out Team Five, who finished with an average score of 8.462, led by the winning all-around efforts of Sara Casica (37.55) and Matt Musielak (50.2).

David Livingston of Team Four put on a show, as the Florida native won the pommel horse (8.80), rings (8.30) and parallel bar (8.30) events.

Mason Vernon was also a winner, taking the high bar with an 8.50 tally.

Newcomer Neil Faustino of third-place Team One finished just behind Musielak in the all-around with a score of 50.1, while equaling senior Tony Cirullo for the win on the vault, scoring a 9.30.

The wins were spread out among the women, as O'Neil (bars-9.45), Nadia Ori (floor exercise-9.70), Jaclyn Messerges (beam-9.60) and Atlin Mitchell (vault-9.75) entered the winner's circle.

Other impressive scores for the women were notched by Jamie Grabowski in the all-around (37.3), freshman Candace Jackson on the vault (9.60) and freshman Alyson Cacciatore on the bars (9.40).

The women's gymnastics team opens up their season on the road at Auburn, where they will compete against the host Tigers, Illinois and Centenary.

The men have one more home exhibition on January 6 in the Alumni Meet at 2:00 p.m., before they host the annual Windy City Invitational at UIC on January 12 at 7:00 p.m.