March 25, 2007

Final Stats

DeKALB, Ill. - Northern Illinois sophomore Leah Johnson (Glenview, Ill.) claimed the state title in the all-around and Jennifer Naughton (Smithville, Mo.) won the floor exercise crown to lead the Huskies to a second place finish at the 2007 Illinois Classic, which serves as the "state championship" for the four women's gymnastics team in the state.

NIU posted its best score of the season on its final event, the floor exercise, to move up to second place behind state champion Illinois-Chicago, who scored a 48.700 on the bars in their final event to take the come-from-behind victory. Both UIC, which finished with a team total of 194.625 and NIU (194.125) passed 20th-ranked Illinois, which faltered on the balance beam and placed third with a team score of 193.725. Illinois State placed fourth at 188.500.

"We didn't have a bad event today," said NIU Head Coach Mark Sontag. "We were strong on all four events. We went 48 on every event and anytime you're doing that, it's a good day."

In addition to recording a season-high total of 48.900 on the floor exercise, Northern Illinois opened the meet with its best score of the year on vault at 48.850. That number also ranks as the second-best vault team total in school history behind only a 48.950 at the 2004 MAC Championships. The Huskies did not count a score below 9.700 on either vault or floor exercise. NIU also earned a 48.275 on the uneven bars and a 48.100 on balance beam as the overall team total of 194.125 was the second-highest of the season for Northern.

"Having a performance like this at this time of the year, right before we go to the MAC Championships, is perfect," Sontag said. "We want to build off a strong meet like this and have something to build on. We are hitting on all cylinders going into the championship and really staying together well as a team and pushing to the end of every meet."

Johnson epitomized her team's effort as the Huskies' lone all-arounder put together her best overall performance of the season to win the state all-around title. The Glenview native tied for first place on the vault with a 9.850, tied for fourth on floor exercise with a 9.800, was fifth on the beam with a score of 9.700 and added a 9.725 on the uneven parallel bars to record a career-best all-around score of 39.075. That score gave her the all-around title over UIC's Jessie Jaworowicz by the narrow margin of just .025.

"To earn the title of top gymnast in the state is huge for our program and huge for Leah," Sontag said. "It's going to give her a lot of confidence going into next week and is nothing but positive for her and for the team. She is kind of a microcosm of the whole team in that she's peaking at the right time; she's had highs and lows on different events this year, but is putting it all together."

Joining Johnson on the All-State team was fellow sophomore Naughton, who tied for first on the floor exercise with a season and career-best 9.850, and placed third on the balance beam with a 9.750. She earned NIU's top scores on the beam and floor in the meet.

"Jennifer has been doing a phenomenal job for us all year," Sontag said. "She had three strong events again, she led our team on the floor and the beam and was second on the vault, so as far as getting the job done on her events, you can't ask for much more than that."

Junior Amber Whitecotton (West Dundee, Ill.) and freshman Natalie Blum (Homer Glen, Ill.) added scores of 9.800 on the day for the Huskies with Whitecotton achieving that mark on vault for the second time in her career while Blum posted that total on floor exercise to earn a career high.

Next, Northern Illinois will travel to Ypsilanti, Mich. for the Mid-American Conference Championships which will be held Saturday, March, 31 at 1 p.m. (CDT).

-- NIU --