March 31, 2003

Chicago, Ill. - The highest scoring season in UIC women's gymnastics just got a little better.

For the sixth-time in school history and second consecutive season, this year's record setting Flames have garnered a berth into the NCAA Regional Championships, it was announced on Monday by the NCAA.

One of 36 teams to be selected, the Flames will compete in Columbia, Missouri at the University of Missouri on Saturday, April 12 in the NCAA South Central Regional.

UIC will have its hands full when they arrive in Columbia, as the Flames will compete against the top-ranked team in the land, UCLA. Joining the Flames and the Bruins is #12 Oregon State, #13 Iowa, #19 Arizona and the regional host, Missouri.

Based on regional qualifying score (RQS), Missouri is ranked 26th and UIC is 34th.

Six teams, five all-around competitors (who are not on a qualifying team) and one individual event specialist per event [who has a minimum qualifying score (RQS) of 9.4] were named to each of the six regions. The top two teams and the top two all-around competitors (who are not on an advancing team) from each regional will receive an automatic berth to the national championships in Lincoln, Nebraska, April 24-26, hosted by the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.