DeKALB, Ill.  – The season will continue for three Northern Illinois University gymnasts as Natalie Hamp, Alyssa Al-Ashari and Emmalise Nock will compete in the NCAA Regional in Denver, Colorado on March 31st as the NCAA announced the 2023 Gymnastics Selections on Monday.
 
Hamp, a senior specialist on the uneven parallel bars, will make her third consecutive NCAA Regional appearance. Al-Ashari will compete on both uneven parallel bars and balance beam, while Nock qualified on floor exercise. Both Al-Ashari and Nock are making their NCAA Regional debuts.
 
"This is a culmination of outstanding seasons for all three of these ladies," said NIU head coach Sam Morreale. "To qualify for NCAA Regionals as an individual, you have to be at the top of your game all year long. For Natalie, it shows her greatness on bars to qualify for the third time, and I know she wants to go and do well in her last chance as a senior. For Alyssa and Emmalise, this is a super opportunity. Emmalise averaged a 9.9 on floor to get there, and I think Alyssa only counted one score below that, so it shows the consistency they had all year long."
 
NIU has had at least one individual qualify for regionals in each of the last nine years the championships have been held (no NCAA Regionals in 2020 due to COVID-19), beginning in 2014. Including 2023 additions Al-Ashari and Nock, 17 different Huskies have qualified for the NCAA Regionals 26 times since Morreale took over the NIU program as head coach in 2012.
 
Hamp will become just the fourth Huskie all-time – and the first since Holly Reichard in 2008, 2009 and 2011 - to compete at NCAAs three or more times in her career. NIU Hall of Famers Kristina Campos (2002-05) and Martha Unger (1987-91) each competed at NCAAs four times. 
 
The Ionia, Michigan (Ionia HS) native, a two-time MAC Champion and three-time All-MAC performer on bars, ranked first in the league on bars throughout the season and finished the year with a National Qualifying Score (NQS) of 9.895. She scored a 9.850 or higher on bars nine times on the season.
 
A junior from Lansing, Michigan (Grand Ledge HS), Al-Ashari is the first Huskie to qualify on two individual events since Courtney Dowdell in 2017 with a NQS of 9.880 on both bars and balance beam, the second highest marks in the MAC. On bars, she scored a 9.825 or higher 11 times on the year, including a career high 9.925 during NIU's Beauty & the Beast Meet. She also recorded a career high 9.925 on balance beam one week earlier and posted nine scores of at least 9.825 on balance beam during the season.
 
Nock earned a spot in the NCAA Denver Regional as a sophomore. The Rosemount, Minnesota (Rosemount HS) product scored a 9.900 in each of the Huskies' last five meets of the season, including at the MAC Championships, to secure her first regional bid. Her 9.900 NQS on floor exercise was good for fifth in the MAC.  She scored a 9.850 or higher nine times on the season.
 
The Huskies will compete in the first session of the NCAA Denver Regional second round on Friday, March 31st beginning at 3 p.m. (CT).  Al-Ashari and Nock are in the rotation with Georgia, while Hamp will go up on bars following Oregon State. The meet will air on ESPN+.  
 
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