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DEKALB, Ill. - The Northern Illinois University women's gymnastics team travels to Kent, Ohio with a lot of momentum as the Huskies open competition in the 2015 Mid-American Conference Gymnastics Championships Saturday.

Competition begins at 1 p.m. and fans can follow the action via live stats or the live video stream.

NIU (11-4, 4-2) enters this year's event brimming with confidence following a record-setting season. The Huskies clinched second place in the MAC and set the school record for team all-around score with a 195.800-195.525 win over Eastern Michigan in the regular season finale last Sunday.

"This team feels really good about where they're at," said NIU head coach Sam Morreale. "To put a four-event meet together like we did last week against Eastern Michigan to end the regular season was a great thing. The record was great thing. This team is still chasing 196.00 and they want to win the MAC.

"We feel good about the fact that we can go into this meet and win. Having the success we did against teams in the league, we can go in confidently and it's not just me saying, `we're going in to win.' We're legitimately going in to put a meet together. If we put a meet together we can win."

It has been quite a season so far for NIU in 2015. The Huskies have topped the 195.00 mark three times this season, the most in one season in school history. NIU posted a 195.650 in its Tri-Meet victory, the second-highest score in school history, and a 195.400 in a win at Southeast Missouri State.

The Huskies have made their mark in the record book this season. In addition to breaking the all-around team score, NIU posted the second-highest vault (48.975) and floor (49.225) scores, the fifth best uneven parallel bars (48.950) score and cracked the top-10 on the balance beam with a 48.925.

Senior Amanda Stepp (Lapeer, Mich./Lapeer East) and sophomore Megan Greenfield (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake South) scored a personal best 9.900 on the vault in 2015. Stepp, the league's reigning MAC Gymnast of the Week, did it twice in fact, while scoring a 9.900 on the floor exercise as well. Both vault and floor scores rank fourth

In addition to pursuing its first MAC title in school history, NIU is looking to earn the school's first NCAA bid as a team. If the Huskies don't make it as a team, there are several Huskies looking for NCAA bids as individuals.

Since joining the starting line up on bars, sophomore Jamyra Carter (Ypslianti, Mich./Huron) has been impressive. She is averaging 9.778 on the event and a strong showing this weekend could greatly improve her NCAA chances. Freshman Andie Van Voorhis (Columbus, Ohio/Hilliard) has been solid on vault in her first season of collegiate gymnastics, averaging a 9.762.

Sophomores Courtney Dowdell (Lynwood, Ill./Thornton Fractional South) and Brittany Wenzel (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) have been strong for NIU's floor team. Dowdell is averaging 9.718, while Wenzel is posting a 9.680 in the event.

The Huskies will look to get off to a fast start, opening the 2015 MAC Gymnastics Championships on one of their best events, the floor. Following a bye, NIU will move to its best event, the vault. NIU will be on the uneven bars on the fifth rotation, while finishing up on beam in the seventh rotation.

"With this group I would feel confident wherever we were starting," Morreale said. "That's what we've been preaching all year. Where we go doesn't matter. It's about hitting the routines we do.

"We definitely feel comfortable with our floor group. They're really good at what they do and they perform it very well."

-NIU-