YPSILANTI, Mich. – Northern Illinois University gymnasts Natalie Hamp and Tara Kofmehl won individual titles on the uneven parallel bars and floor exercise, respectively, to lead the Huskies to a second-place finish at the 2022 Mid-American Conference Gymnastics Championships Saturday at the George Gervin GameAbove Center in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
 
The Huskies finished with a team score of 196.125, just .150 behind first place Central Michigan, which finished with a score of 196.275. Western Michigan was third at 196.075, followed by Ball State (195.900), Kent State (195.325), Eastern Michigan (195.025) and Bowling Green (192.550).
 
With its second-place finish, NIU has placed first or second at each of the last four MAC Championships, its best finishes ever at the league meet. The Huskies won the 2019 Championship and were second in 2018 and 2021 in addition to this year.
 
"We wanted to be in the position with an opportunity to win," said NIU head coach Sam Morreale. "Could we have done a little better in certain spots – yes, but that's the meet. We did pretty much everything we planned on doing, so that was awesome. Super proud of what they did, they fought the whole day, they stayed positive. It was going to be a dog fight, it was going to be a challenge, it was going to be a meet anyone could win. We were deep and we used that depth. I had kids step up all over the place all this year and again today.
 
"We handled this seven-rotation meet very well. We're able to pace ourselves, keep our energy through the byes. No other meet throughout the year comes even close to this. I can't congratulate or say enough positive things about this group and being able to come together the way they did."
 
Kofmehl closed out the meet, and a strong rotation on floor exercise for NIU, with a career high 9.950 to earn her second MAC individual title and lift the Huskies into second place. After winning the MAC Championship on vault a year ago, the senior from Mesa, Arizona became just the third NIU gymnast to win MAC titles on two different events, joining Holly Reichard (bars, beam) and Ashley Potts (bars, vault). Kofmehl's 9.950 score on floor is tied for the third-highest all-time at NIU. Freshman Isabella Sissi and junior Brookelyn Sears each earned a 9.850 on floor to tie for ninth and back up Kofmehl.
 
Following the meet, Kofmehl was named the MAC Senior Gymnast of the Year, sharing the award with Central Michigan's Sierra Demarinis in a vote by MAC coaches. Kofmehl is just the second Huskie to win the Senior Gymnast honor and the first since Jennifer Naughton in 2009
 
"Tara's finish [on floor] was awesome," Morreale said. "At that point, we didn't know where we stood or what we needed. Brookelyn did a good job setting her up and then she goes out and hits probably her best routine of the year, which is just how you want to go out as a senior. It was awesome for her to get the win and then to cap that with being named the Senior Gymnast of the Year."    

Hamp joined Kofmehl as a two-time MAC Champion and is the first Huskie to win back-to-back MAC event titles on the same event. Her 9.900 score on bars helped the Huskies to a 49.200 team total on the event, the top bars score by any team in the meet. In addition to Hamp's win, sophomore Alyssa Al-Ashari scored a 9.875 to tie for third with her best bars score of the season, tying her career high, and senior bars specialist Liana Roman closed out her NIU career with a career best 9.850 to tie for sixth.
 
"Natalie is super good at what she does," Morreale said. "She's detail oriented, she wants to chase greatness. This is a tough conference to win once let alone back-to-back. There are a lot of really good bar workers in this league.
 
"Then one of the highlights for me today was Liana Roman, who ends up placing at the championships as a senior. She's just a tireless worker who came out and had the best routine of her career in the last meet of her career; it was awesome. Overall, this was probably one of our best bar runs ever, not even the scores, when the first three kids stuck [their landings], you could feel the energy."
 
Al-Ashari and freshman Ellery Werner led the way for NIU on balance beam as they each scored 9.850 to tie for sixth and lead the Huskies to a 49.050 total. Sears added a 9.800 on beam, contributing to her 39.175 score on all-around which tied for second in the meet and put her on the MAC All-Tournament Team along with Hamp and Kofmehl. In addition to the 9.8 on beam and 9.85 on floor, Sears scored a 9.775 on bars and a 9.750 on vault.
 
"Brookelyn is sneaky good," Morreale said. "She's very consistent, she's very methodical and she doesn't get phased. I am not surprised that she's good enough to take second in the all-around in this meet. She doesn't look nervous or scared, she just goes out and quietly gets her stuff done just like we're in the practice gym. That pays off for her in those situations."
 
Sissi had the Huskies' top score on vault with a 9.800 to tie for ninth. The freshmen either set or tied her career high on all three of her events Saturday.
 
"Sissi is a competitor, she shines when the lights are on," Morreale said. "I am super excited about the freshman class overall. You can look at her, Ellery and we didn't even have Alana [Anderson] or Emmalise [Nock] today, then you add the sophomores and juniors, led by Natalie and Brookelyn, and we have a lot to look forward to.
 
"With this run of finishes [in the MAC Championship Meet], it shows we've turned the corner as a program.  We've hit our stride, that's exciting and it's all the kids, they buy in to the system and to the plan and they are all there for each other, even as they're all working for those spots in the line-up."
 
NIU's 196.125 total is tied for fourth all-time as the Huskies recorded three of their top five scores all-time in 2022.  The Huskies also had their highest score, and highest bars score all-time at a MAC Championship meet.
 
-- NIU --