KENT, Ohio – The Northern Illinois University gymnastics team took second place at the Kent State Tri-Meet Sunday at the M.A.C. Center in Kent, Ohio Sunday, defeating Southeast Missouri State while dropping its Mid-American Conference opener to the host Golden Flashes.
 
NIU (3-2, 0-1 MAC) posted its second consecutive score of 194+ to start the 2022 season with event scores ranging from 48.775 on floor exercise to 48.300 on uneven parallel bars.  The Huskies tallied a 48.700 on balance beam and a 48.375 on vault.
 
"It's a sign of how our program has advanced that we're far from satisfied with a 194," said NIU head coach Sam Morreale. "We put together a solid meet to stay over 194 but we know we've got more, we know we're better. We had a rough day in some places, other places when we did things well, we weren't rewarded. Then we had some misses which made it hard to build. Overall, I truly felt like we were fighting an uphill battle today."
 
Senior Tara Kofmehl earned the top score of the day for the Huskies as she scored a 9.850 on floor exercise to tie for first. Kofmehl was second in the all-around with a total of 38.450 and was one of a trio of Huskies to tie for second place on vault as she, senior Morgan Hooper and freshman Isabella Sissi all earned a score of 9.775 to lead NIU.
 
Hooper scored a season-high 9.800 on balance beam to tie for third and was a late addition to the line-up on vault. She added a 9.700 on bars to record her top performances of the early season.
 
"Morgan stepped in on vault and did a great job," Morreale said. "She had a really solid day which was a good bounce back from last week.  She did a lot of work this week to smooth out the small errors and it paid off."
 
Brookelyn Sears, who made her 2022 debut, led the Huskies on bars with a 9.825 to tie for third and Natalie Hamp tied for fifth with a 9.800 on bars. Freshmen Alana Anderson and Emmalise Nock each recorded a 9.800 on floor exercise to tie for fourth.
 
"We still have to work on our sticks and we have to cut down on the misses," Morreale said. "All in all, it's week two, there are a lot of positives to take, but there are still mistakes to build off of. It's a short week but we'll be excited to get out there again and compete."
 
The Huskies will see SEMO again on Friday night, along with Lindenwood, as the three teams compete at the USA Invitational in Lebanon, Tennessee at 6 p.m.
 
-- NIU --