Women's Gymnastics | January 18

DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University gymnastics team sees its first Mid-American Conference opponent on Friday as it heads to Kent, Ohio to take on the MAC preseason favorite Golden Flashes at 6 p.m. CDT.
 
"It's great to get into conference," said NIU head coach Sam Morreale. "We've got a goal set to do well in the conference this year and go after the MAC Championship. The best way to see how you stack up is to get into some competitions against those teams. What better way to do it than against the best team in the MAC."
 
NIU will take on No. 22 Kent State in the Memorial Athletics and Convocation (M.A.C.) Center as the Flashes host their home opener.
 
The Huskies are looking to capitalize on their last two meetings against the MAC foe as the team marked two Kent State wins in the 2017 season, including a close matchup at home and nearly a full point gap between the two's scores at the MAC Championship.
 
Historically, the Golden Flashes have been huge competition for NIU as they hold the series record with 42 wins over the Huskies' 10.
 
With two meets under the Huskies' belts, the team is feeling ready for the conference competition. NIU recorded its first win of the season last Saturday to Winona State where the Huskies earned three team season-high event scores and saw progress from the first week of competition across the board. Kent State also earned its first win of the season last weekend against Centenary.
 
"Our goal for the week is just to stay within ourselves like we did last week, and just keep improving," said Morreale. "We saw a lot of that, where we didn't focus on the other competitors at all. I also feel really good about the practices that we've had going into this meet, and I look forward to us improving on what we did last week."
 
For the Huskies, the expectation is to build on what they have done so far this season. Last week, they were able to do so by reaching high marks on vault, uneven parallel bars and balance beam.
 
The uneven parallel bars squad earned the team's highest score of 48.700 with a 9.825 from senior all-around competitor Ashley Potts (Oakwood Hills, Ill./Prairie Ridge) and a 9.750 from sophomore all-around competitor Allison Richardson (Marysville, Ohio/Marysville). Freshman Gabby Welch (Greenbrier, Tenn./Aaron Academy [Home School]) and senior Aubrie Purtell (Huntley, Ill./Huntley) also added to the Huskies' score with a 9.725 from each as they set their career highs on the event.
 
Purtell made her debut on the Huskies' starting bars lineup on Saturday and did not disappoint. After starting the season as an exhibition performer, Purtell was called up and earned her career-high bar routine score. She was named NIU's Scholar Athlete of the Week for her performance last week along with her accomplishments in the classroom over the course of her career as a student athlete at NIU.
 
"Aubrie is a really good example of somebody who won't be denied and works super hard," said Morreale. "She's a senior for us this year. She had a long road with injuries and not being able to break in to strong lineups, yet, she is determined to improve and do well. She epitomizes what we want on our team. She is not a scholarship athlete, and she has earned and worked for everything that she has ever gotten. Not only is it paying off for her now, but it's also something that will hugely pay off in her life and career in the future."
 
Huskie fans can follow the team on Friday by following live scoring or by watching the live stream. Updates will also be posted on the team's Twitter and Facebook accounts.
 
-NIU-