Women's Gymnastics | January 7
DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University gymnastics team hosted its season opener on Sunday as the Huskies came in third place against the North Carolina State Wolfpack and the University of Illinois-Chicago Flames.
NC State won the meet with a cumulative score of 194.025, while UIC put up a 193.525 and the Huskies finished with 192.600.
"It's great to get the season started," said NIU head coach
Sam Morreale. "It's great to get out in front of people and see what we have. We had a great crowd, great energy. I thought we came out, ready to go, but we just struggled. We are a lot better than this. We don't need to work harder, we just need to be able to do what we do."
Though the Huskies didn't start the season the way they had hoped, they are excited to build on what they did accomplish. Junior captain
Anna Martucci (Clarkston, Mich./Our Lady of the Lakes) scored a team-high 9.800 to tie for first in the event, while senior all-around competitor
Ashley Potts (Oakwood Hills, Ill./Prairie Ridge) scored a high on uneven parallel bars for the team with 9.825 to also tie for first.
The Huskies began the afternoon on vault, where Lamberti and Potts dominated on the team with matching scores of 9.750 to tie for third on the event and freshman
Gabby Welch (Greenbrier, Tenn./Aaron Academy [Home School]) competed in her first event as a Huskie, earning a 9.675. The team ended the event with a total score of 48.100.
Allison Richardson (Marysville, Ohio/Marysville) added to Potts' impressive bars score by adding a 9.700 on the event, tallying the team's event score at 48.125. NIU competed on the balance beam for its third event of the day, where senior captain
Katherine Prentice (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli) started the season with a 9.775.
On floor, the Huskies prospered as Martucci and Potts' scores paved the way for Prentice, Richardson and junior
Paige Nicholas (Cleveland, Ohio/Lutheran West) to earn a pair of 9.725 scores and a 9.700. The team tallied its high of the night as they finished with a score of 48.700 on the event.
Potts also tied for second in the all-around competition with a final score of 38.975, missing first by a tenth of a point, and Richardson finished tying for fifth with a score of 37.925 in her first all-around competition as a Huskie.
"Vault and bars, historically, have been a little better for us, started a little low for us this year," said Morreale. "I do know that we will get better there. Beam is a great event for us, so if we can just get out of our own way and do it at a meet, it won't be a problem. On floor, we finished strong and that is expected. We'll regroup and get back after it. The only way to get better at competing is to compete."
The Huskies have a quick turnaround as they hit the road to compete at Minnesota on Saturday. The Huskies will take on the host team as well as Maryland at 4 p.m. CDT.
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