April 17, 2008
DeKalb, Ill.- Northern Illinois junior Jennifer Naughton (Smithville, Mo./Smithville) has been selected for the second straight year to the Academic All-Mid American Conference Gymnastics team by the league's faculty athletic representatives. Naughton is one of only nine selected to the team, which consisted of players from six different MAC schools.
Naughton, a pre-physical therapy major who has maintained an impressive 3.66 GPA in her three years at NIU, earned her a selection after her strong performances for the vault, beam, and floor exercise events this season. For the vault, Naughton placed in the top 10 six times. She placed in the top three for the beam in seven of nine competitions, earning four first-place finishes and tying her career-best score of 9.875 to secure a second-place finish at the Illinois State Championships.
Naughton also recorded consistent scores for the floor exercise, placing in the top 10 in seven of nine outings, earning three first-place finishes, and placing sixth-place at the MAC Championships on March 29th. On January 29, she received the award for MAC Specialist of the week following her strong performance in a meet versus Western Michigan where she placed first in both the beam and floor exercise, and third on the vault.
At the conclusion of the regular season, Naughton was named as an alternate for the balance beam event for the NCAA South Central Regional in Norman, Okla. This was the second year in a row she has been selected as an alternate for Regional competition.
Naughton is the ninth NIU selection to the squad since 2003, and is one of five repeat selections to the squad this year.
The remainder of the team consisted of Erica Gilkerson (Sr., Ball State), Jessica Neel (Jr., Central Michigan), Jolene Worley (Sr., Eastern Michigan), Duyen Zu Voung (Jr. Eastern Michigan), Lydia Barrett ( So., Kent State), Laci Hendress (Jr., Kent State), Rachel Stuck (Jr. Kent State), and Andrea Perini (Jr., Western Michigan).
The Huskies concluded the 2008 season at the MAC Championships on March 29 in Kent, Ohio, securing a fourth-place finish and finishing with a record of 13-7 overall. Naughton's teammates Leah Johnson (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South HS) and Holly Reichard (Palatine, Ill./Palatine Fremd HS) advanced to the NCAA South Central Regional all-around competition on April 12 in Norman, Okla. The Huskies will lose four seniors off a team that reached many milestones, including placing third at the Illinois State Championships, and tying the school record for the ninth-highest overall score of 194.525.
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