Women's Gymnastics | February 15
DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University makes the trip to St. Charles, Mo. to compete in the GymQuarters Invitational on Friday. The Huskies will take on Minnesota and Lindenwood in the matinee session, beginning at 2 p.m. CDT.
"We've got a good build in our season right now, coming off a pretty successful weekend," said NIU head coach Sam Morreale. "Our goal is to keep that going. We'll see Minnesota again, and it will also be nice to see how we stack up against them, a few weeks later. We have competed against Lindenwood before and will have good competition in them, as well."
The Huskies are coming off a double meet weekend earning two wins at Mid-American Conference foe Eastern Michigan as well as at local UIC. NIU outscored the Eagles with a season high mark, 195.425-194.900, and the Flames, 195.025-193.625.
Senior Ashley Potts (Oakwood Hills, Ill./Prairie Ridge) and junior Anna Martucci (Clarkston, Mich./Our Lady of the Lakes) capitalized off the weekend, earning MAC Gymnast and Specialist of the Week.
Potts won the Gymnast Award after tying two career highs over the weekend at Eastern Michigan (Feb. 9) on floor with a 9.800 and at UIC (Feb. 11) on vault with a 9.850. The Huskie narrowly missed her career high score of 39.350 that she set a few weeks earlier in the season against Central Michigan as she hit a 39.325 at Eastern Michigan. Potts' weekend included seven scores of 9.800 or better, including three 9.850 scores, three 9.825 scores and a 9.800.
Martucci won the Specialist Award for her earned two wins on floor this past weekend at Eastern Michigan and UIC. On Friday, she posted a 9.900 on floor for the third time this season against the Eagles and returned home on Sunday with a first-place score of 9.850.
"This is a good opportunity for us just to get used to bigger crowds and a different arena," said Morreale. "We've been on the road a lot this season, so we're kind of becoming the road warriors, which is a good thing, especially coming down the stretch with the bigger meets. It will help prepare us for the state meet and conference championship. It also allows club kids to watch us and gives a little advantage of the recruiting side."
The Huskies are hoping to improve their experience competing against Minnesota at the beginning of the season. NIU came up short against the Gophers in Minneapolis, 194.200-193.575, after an uncharacteristic slow start to the season. Since the Huskies last saw the Gophers, they have posted five scores above Minnesota's winning score over NIU.
Though the Huskies have not seen Lindenwood yet this season, last year's teams competed at the NIU Convocation Center in the first meet of the season. NIU was victorious with a final score of 194.825-192.075 over the Lions.
Fans hoping to follow the Huskies progress on Friday can find results on the team's Twitter and Instagram pages as well as tracking on FloSports.
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