DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University gymnastics team held its annual Red/Black Intrasquad exhibition meet Saturday afternoon.

This exhibition allows the Huskies to get a feel for the upcoming season and an opportunity to perform in front of an audience. The coaches able to grasp an idea of what the ladies need to work on and what they are already excelling at.

"It was a great competition for us for it being this early in the year and for what we are able to show," said head coach Sam Morreale. "The great thing right now is that we're in cleaning mode, we're not in skill learning mode. It seems simple, but we're talking about pointing our toes a little more on a leap, not worrying about learning the actual leap. I was looking for confident, aggressive competition and looking to have fun. I saw that out of them today."

The Huskies were able to draw a large crowd for the event including parents, athletes from other sports at NIU and many other fans.

"We had a great crowd," said Morreale. "It was loud. It was noisy. Again, that's what we wanted to do, put them in front of people just to see the nerves kick in, and I was pumped for how we did."

NIU gymnastics begins its regular season with a home opener on January 8 where they will host Lindenwood, Iowa and Western Michigan.

-NIU-