Women's Gymnastics | January 12

KENT, Ohio – The Northern Illinois University women's gymnastics team opened defense of its Mid-American Conference title Sunday with a 193.175-193.125 come-from-behind victory over Kent State at the M.A.C. Center in Kent, Ohio.
 
Trailing by a huge margin of 1.6 points after several mishaps on bars in the first rotation, NIU came through with solid performances on both vault and floor exercise before the balance beam team gave the Huskies the victory with a 48.950 score to overtake the Flashes.
 
"Overall it's great to see the team stay resilient and keep their heads and come through and get the win." said NIU head coach Sam Morreale, who began his ninth season as head coach in 2020. "It was definitely not the start we were looking for [on bars], so to continue to battle and move forward, it was awesome to see them do that."
 
NIU did not count a score lower than 9.700 on balance beam, led by 2019 MAC beam champion Mia Lord, who won the event with a score of 9.850. Junior Zoie Schroeder took second with a 9.825, followed by junior Catherine Biddle at 9.800 and senior Allison Richardson's 9.775.
 
The Huskies also outscored Kent State on floor exercise, 48.450-48.275. Sophomore Tara Kofmehl finished third in the individual standings with a 9.750 to lead NIU on floor, followed by freshman Brookelyn Sears at 9.725 and Richardson's 9.675. The remaining three members of the floor squad all posted scores of 9.650.
 
"I was really proud of our leadoff gymnasts on floor exercise and balance beam in Morgan [Hooper] and Cat [Biddle]," Morreale said.  "With Morgan, who hasn't been able to crack the line-up on floor in the past due to our depth, she was super solid as the leadoff and that's what you want. Everyone after her was able to feed off her hit. The beam squad, they were rock solid. To go to that event last and be able to do what they did it is really satisfying."
 
Huskies claimed individual titles on three of four events, with Sears and Hooper finishing first and second, respectively, in the all-around. In her NIU debut, Sears put together four solid routines, topped by her 9.775 on uneven parallel bars to tie for second. She scored a 9.725 on floor, a 9.650 on balance beam and 9.625 on vault to total 38.775 overall. Hooper was .050 behind at a career best 38.725 as she won the uneven parallel bars event with a 9.825 and added a 9.700 on beam, a career high 9.650 on floor and a 9.550 on vault.
 
Kofmehl tied for first on vault with a career high 9.800 to lead NIU on that event, while Schroeder tied for third at 9.775 and Gabby Welch scored a 9.750.
 
Morreale was happy to see the contributions from freshman and several gymnasts who contributed on different events for the first time.    
 
"That's what we're looking for from Brookelyn, she's super solid in training and for the first time in a collegiate meet, she was as even-keeled as she is every day in practice," he said. "Zoie [Schroeder] has skills everywhere, she still works through injuries and she's only going to get better.  She competes so calm, cool and collected."
 
The Huskies, 1-0 overall and in the MAC, open their 2020 home schedule Friday, January 17 at 7 p.m. when they take on Western Michigan as one half of the annual Beauty and the Beast meet with the Huskie wrestling team. The event will be held in the NIU Convocation Center and is free to the public. 
 
-- NIU --