DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University gymnastics team held its Annual Red-Black Intrasquad Meet in Victor E. Court with the Red team scoring a narrow 192.500-192.100 win over the Black team in the lone judged exhibition of the preseason.
 
"Today is all about getting that first start, getting out in front of people and I feel great about what I saw tonight," said NIU head coach Sam Morreale.  "The depth that we've seen since the beginning of the semester, we saw it tonight.  I'm impressed with the way the group is working, their dedication and their attention to detail. I think today will definitely help us take those next couple of steps forward so that once we get to January [and the beginning of the season], we'll be right where we want to be."  
 
The meet saw both familiar faces and newcomers atop the event leaderboards for the Huskies.  Senior Tara Kofmehl, an NCAA qualifier and MAC vault champion in 2021, earned one of the two highest scores on three events while fellow senior Morgan Hooper was in the top four on three different events as well.
 
On the other end of the spectrum, freshman Isabella Sissi scored in the top four spots in three events with fellow freshmen Alana Anderson and Emmalise Nock also among the top scores of the night.
 
"The upperclassmen came in and really looked calm," Morreale said. "Tara and Morgan looked in midseason form and we're going to rely on them a lot. Then you saw the freshmen like Alana, Isabella and Emmalise, they're going to push for spots. They're skilled, they're talented and they compete well. You add in the solid group of sophomores and juniors and it's going to be a fun year."  
 
Junior Jacklyn Dolitsky and Kofmehl tied for the top spot on floor exercise with each scoring a 9.850. That mark was matched on uneven parallel bars by sophomore Alyssa Al-Ashari for the best score on that event. Juniors Brookelyn Sears and Natalie Hamp scored 9.800 to tie for second on bars, while Hooper's 9.800 led the way on balance beam. Sophomore Isabelle West had the best vault of the day with a 9.750.
 
The Huskies open the season on Friday, January 7 in Gainesville, Florida in a quad meet with Florida, Rutgers and Texas Woman's University. NIU's first home meet is Friday, February 4.    
 
TEAM SCORES                     Vault                Bars                 Beam              Floor                Total
Red                                         48.250             48.150             47.700             48.400             192.500
Black                                       47.700             48.200             48.350             47.850             192.100
 
TOP SCORES