NIU Gymnastics Enters 2023 as "One Team, One Dream"

The Northern Illinois University gymnastics team’s 2023 theme is “one team, one dream.” 

The three-fold dream, as it is every year, is to qualify for NCAA Regionals as a team, to win the MAC Championship and the regular season MAC title. The pursuit of those goals begins this Sunday at the NIU Convocation Center when the Huskies take on Mid-American Conference foe Bowling Green in the 2023 season opener. 

Head coach Sam Morreale, who enters his 12th season at the helm of the Huskie program in 2023, knows that achieving NIU’s dream begins with the little things, including hit routines and stuck landings. Those small steps lead to the scores it takes to get where the team wants to go. 

“Early it’s about hitting and landing,” Morreale said. “Our mentality, our philosophy has always been, we want to come out ready. We want to set the bar high enough from the start and hit the ground running at the high 194, 195 [team score] so we can build from there. Then, the hope is we’re improving every week.”

While the wins, especially in the six MAC meets, are important, in gymnastics, the numbers – the scores – are just as critical.

“It’s great to win, but if we win and go 190, I don’t know if that’s the start we want,” Morreale said. “If we lose and go 195, we’re going to see a lot of positives. For us, it’s always about the number.” 

The Huskies’ 23-woman roster is led by 10 upperclassmen - five seniors - while the group of 13 freshmen and sophomores includes seven newcomers. 

“Overall, we’re young, a little bit inexperienced, but it’s that fun mix of youth and experience,” Morreale said. “We have some senior and junior leadership who are going to help carry us, help us get comfortable with competing early.”

SENIORS

The most accomplished Huskie is senior bars specialist Natalie Hamp (Ionia, Mich./Ionia HS), a two-time MAC Champion, two-time NCAA Regional participant and two-time All-MAC selection who Morreale said is tracking for another outstanding season.  Fellow senior Brookelyn Sears (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville HS) competed in seven meets as an all-arounder in 2022; she will start 2023 as one of NIU’s top gymnasts on uneven parallel bars and balance beam. 

Morreale said Ciara Ryan (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake South HS) has the potential to be one of the biggest surprises on the 2023 roster. The only Huskie to compete a vault with a 10.0 start value, Ryan has worked her way into the line-up on floor exercise and uneven parallel bars in addition to vault as a fifth-year senior. 

Jacklyn Dolitsky (Commack, N.Y./Commack HS) is in the mix to compete on balance beam and floor exercise at some point in 2023, while her twin sister, Gillian, continues to come back from a season-ending injury sustained in warm-ups at the 2022 season opener. 

MORREALE SAYS: “The hard thing for someone like Natalie are the expectations – not only from us, but from herself. She’s a bar specialist, but she is so much more. Brookelyn is going to start the year on bars and beam for us where she is one of the best we have and then as we progress through the year, we’ll manage if she moves back into that all-arounder role for us. I am super proud of what Ciara has done, the work she has put in to improve on all four events and to put herself in the line-up on at least three to start the season. She is finally the athlete that we recruited and signed. Gillian [Dolitsky] helps us in many different ways even though she isn’t competing, while Jacklyn gives us quality depth on both of her events.” 

JUNIORS

The biggest impact gymnast among the NIU juniors is Alyssa Al-Ashari (Lansing, Mich./Grand Ledge HS), another Huskie with all-around potential who will be one of the top athletes on bars and beam as she sets her sights on NCAA Regionals. After undergoing surgery this summer, Kendall George (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville Central HS) will start the season in the line-up on her best event, balance beam, and will eventually push for a line-up spot on both vault and floor exercise. Olivia Lynd (West Chester, Ohio/Ursuline Academy), one of the top “utility” athletes for NIU a year ago, has become one of the Huskies’ most consistent and solid workers on both balance beam and floor exercise and will contribute on both events while adding depth to the vault group.

Isabelle West (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North HS) will be in the vault line-up and contend for a spot on uneven parallel bars while continuing to train on all four events. Grace Humphrys (Cocoa, Fla./Space Coast HS) provides depth on both the floor exercise and balance beam for NIU.

MORREALE SAYS: “Alyssa is going to make her mark and do some things on bars and beam for us. She wants to make a splash in her junior year. She makes what she does look easy, and I think she’s set to have another great year. Kendall will start the season on beam for us, that is her best and most solid event, but she is pushing the line-up on vault and floor and that’s a great sign for us from a team standpoint. Olivia is going to be a contributor on beam and floor where she is one of our most consistent and solid athletes, and has a chance to contend on vault, where we are fairly deep this year. For Isabelle, she will vault for us and will be in contention on bars while continuing to train all four events. Grace brings experience which is nice that if we need to call on her and rely on her, it’s there.”

SOPHOMORES

All six of the Huskies’ 2022 freshmen saw action a year ago, including four who competed in the line-up, three in multiple events. They return as experienced sophomores along with Southern Connecticut State transfer Natalia Kraus (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport HS), the first transfer Morreale has brought into the program.  

Isabella Sissi (Blaine, Minn./Mounds View HS), who came to NIU with high level routines, enters the season as an all-arounder. She was a mainstay on the vault and floor for NIU a year ago and competed in three events throughout March, scoring 9.800 or higher on vault, bars and floor at the MAC Championships. Emmalise Nock (Rosemount, Minn./Rosemount HS), whose freshman season was cut short by injury, returns as the Huskie to watch on floor exercise and has a chance to break into the bars line-up while adding depth on balance beam. Alana Anderson (Joliet, Ill./Joliet West HS) was a regular on floor and bars for NIU in 2022 who scored 9.8 or higher in each of the first eight meets of her career on floor exercise. She will enter the season in a slightly more limited role while overcoming some injuries with the potential to compete as many as three events. 

Jenna Blair (Buffalo, N.Y./Frontier HS), a sophomore who only competed exhibition on vault a year ago, is a candidate for the line-up on three of four events entering 2023. She enters her sophomore campaign in the line-up or just outside on vault and floor after making great strides on vault during the offseason. After battling through some adversity last year, Emma Brkjacic (Tampa, Fla./East Lake HS) brings one of the team’s most impressive vaults into 2023. Her ability to hit clean, difficult routines on floor exercise and balance beam, adds to the Huskies’ depth on those events and give her a chance to break into the line-up. Ellery Werner (Rhinelander, Wis./Rhinelander HS) is one of the Huskies’ top workers on balance beam who was in NIU’s line-up on the event throughout the 2022 season.   

MORREALE SAYS: “They’re a talented group. Isabella is a gamer. When it’s a pressure situation, she steps up and she hits. From a skill level standpoint, she’s one of those athletes who came in with a high level, and she has some intangibles that you can’t teach. Emmalise Nock is a super high energy athlete who is probably our best floor tumbler. From a skill level standpoint, she has two really difficult passes with a routine that is fun to watch. Alana has had a great offseason and a great preseason. She is super clean at what she does, so hit routines for her are going to earn 9.8s or better, it’s just a matter of keeping that consistency. Jenna is going to open some eyes this year. She is a super-talented athlete; floor comes easy to her and she has really come a long way on vault. Emma is really coming into her own, there is just not a lot of deduction when she’s on. Ellery reminds me a little of Mia [Lord] on beam, she is super smooth, very easy to watch and makes beam look easy. Natalia has been nothing but a positive addition to the team, she has some things to work through from an injury and technical standpoint, but she is somebody who is going to contribute in the future.”  

FRESHMEN

Morreale expects Samantha Nickle (Yorktown, Va./York HS) to be the biggest contributor from the 2023 freshman class. An all-arounder who is one of the Huskies’ top three performers on all four events, Nickle will start the season in the line-up on bars and beam. Freshman Kiera O’Shea (Norridge, Ill./Ridgewood HS) has been one of NIU’s most consistent vaulters during preseason workouts with the potential to develop into a gymnast who will contribute on every event. 

While Nickle and O’Shea are expected to be in the line-up to start 2023, Sami DiFabrizio (Scotch Plains, N.J.) has shown that she can become a contributor on balance beam while adding depth to the floor squad. Hannah Drielick (Tampa, Fla./Sunlake HS) is hitting her stride after adjusting to college gymnastics this fall. An all-arounder, her most likely spot to see action this season is on balance beam, followed closely by uneven parallel bars. DeKalb High School product Maddie Kees (Cortland, Ill./DeKalb HS) was sidelined during the fall and continues to work her way back. Like many of her freshmen classmates, Jocelyn Harbeck (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East HS) is developing technically while adjusting to college level competition.  

MORREALE SAYS: “Freshmen are always the fun and always the wild card. Every freshman has a different path, yet very similar. Obviously, we’re bringing them in to contribute. The beauty of our program is the freshmen aren’t brought in to save us. They’re a piece of the puzzle and if they can break into the line-up, that makes us that much better, but there’s no pressure on them. The key is we talk to them about what events are ready and where they are still developing for the future.”

SCHEDULE

Morreale likes the way the 2023 schedule lays out and believes the level of gymnastics in the MAC continues to rise overall. He expects the league to be extremely competitive again, beginning with the Bowling Green meet. 

In addition to the MAC schedule, the Huskies will take on Iowa State early in the season and are at Michigan State late. NIU will face Illinois State on a double weekend at home and away. One of the home meet highlights will be the Beauty and the Beast event on February 4 with the Huskie gymnastics and wrestling teams competing side by side on the Convocation Center Arena floor. 

“For us, a meet like that is a great training tool for concentration and focus,” Morreale said. “It’s great for the fans, there is always good positive energy in the arena. It’s just a fun atmosphere and I’m a big fan of the cross promotion with other sports.” 

SUMMARY

Entering the year, Morreale believes the 2023 Huskies are as balanced across the board as any team in his 12 seasons with NIU’s skill level on vault and floor rising to the levels where bars and beam have, of late, led the way. 

“We have a chance to be a team that scores 49 in every event, and we haven’t had that in a while,” he said. “Vault is as strong as it’s ever been for us if not stronger. Bars is driven by experience with Alyssa [Al-Ashari], Natalie [Hamp] and Brookelyn [Sears]. Any one of them can be anchors on a team and we have three of them.

“Of the 23 athletes on the team, 20 have a beam routine,” Morreale continued. “There is a lot of quality there.”

The same can certainly be said of floor exercise. 

“On paper, we’ve never been more talented than we are this year (on floor),” Morreale said. “Difficulty-wise, we can stack up against anyone, now it’s a matter of going out and doing it. If we settle into who we are and compete how we practice, I’m excited to see what this team can accomplish.”