Women's Gymnastics | February 25

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Northern Illinois University gymnastics team recorded the school record vault score of 49.100, making the Kentucky quad meet the fourth straight meet in the record book.  
 
The vault squad's impressive passes earned five scores at 9.800 or higher. Junior all-around competitors Katherine Prentice (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli) and Ashley Potts (Oakwood Hills, Ill./Prairie Ridge) as well as senior Megan Gilliam (Fishers, Ind./Fishers), who set her personal record, all scored 9.800, while freshman Amanda Bartemio (Plymouth, Minn./Waysata) scored a 9.825 to set her personal record, and junior Andie Van Voorhis (Columbus, Ohio/Hilliard) tied her career high of 9.875 for the third time.
 
"Vault was the highlight of the day," said NIU head coach Sam Morreale. "It was impressive after the first two events didn't go as we hoped. We expected a little more, so we'll just build off the positives that came from vault. We didn't have a bad start on beam, we just didn't hit it out of the park."
 
"Amanda had a really good day," said Morreale of Bartemio. "She's really enjoying that third spot on floor, and the judges are rewarding her for what she does really well. She started off our vault lineup and stuck it cold. It was awesome, and then Andie ended our vault run with another stick. It was a huge vault and she didn't move."
 
Bartemio saw success not only on vault, but also on floor with her 9.850 routine to tie her career high that she set at the beginning of the month.
 
The Huskies had uncharacteristic runs on the uneven parallel bars and floor events earning 47.975 and 48.425, respectively. They had great scores in each event, but were not able to put together what they have been able to in the past few weeks.
 
"We had a lot of really great individual performances," said Morreale. "Potts had a great day on her four events, getting a 38.975, and Jamyra had another great day."
 
Potts recorded a 9.850 on the uneven parallel bars, a 9.725 on the balance beam and rounded out her all-around score with a 9.600 on floor. Jamyra Carter (Ypsilanti, Mich./Huron) impressed once again with a 9.875 score on the uneven parallel bars, making it her seventh score of 9.850 or higher this season. Carter has not scored under a 9.800 so far this season.
 
NIU ended the meet in fourth place scoring 193.800 against No. 11 Kentucky (196.625), Illinois (196.625) and No. 18 Washington (196.450).
 
"We're hoping to build off the positives from today because this was just a little bump in the road for us," said Morreale. "It's not a bad score, but we feel like we're a 195.000 or higher team all the time."
 
Next week, the Huskies head to Normal, Ill. to compete in the State Championships against host school Illinois State, Illinois and the University of Illinois-Chicago. The competition begins at 4 p.m. CST next Sunday, March 5.
 
-NIU-