Women's Gymnastics | January 28
Normal, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University gymnastics team had three individuals win events against Illinois State on Tuesday night.
Kiera O'Shea (Norridge, Ill./Ridgewood) won on vault for the second straight meet and scored over 9.800 for the third straight meet.
Natalia Kraus (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) tied for the win on bars for the second time this season with a 9.775 and
Ellery Werner (Rhinelander, Wis./Rhinelander) closed the meet with a 9.825 on beam.
"All three of them (O'Shea, Werner and Kraus) did a great job," interim head coach Nita Teague said. "I am super proud of them. We just need to put a few more pieces together to hit our stride."
NIU scored a 192.850 in the meet, Illinois State won the dual with a 193.925.
"We had to a little bit of adjusting on the fly with lineup changes," Teague said. "I felt like the team was competitive and had a great energy."
NIU opened the meet on bars and bounced back from Saturday scoring a 47.700. Kraus led the Huskies on bars with a 9.775.
Isabella Sissi (Blaine, Min./Mounds View) scored a 9.525 and O'Shea added a 9.500 on vault.
The Huskies transitioned to the vault for the second event and were once again led by 2024 NCAA Regional Qualifier O'Shea as she scored a 9.850 and won yet again on vault.
Dawsyn Sallee (Versailles, Ky./Woodford County) scored a 9.775 and tied for second place on vault as well. The Huskies scored a 48.775 on the event.
NIU moved to the floor in the third rotation.
Drake White (Indianapolis, Ind/Bishop Chatard) and O'Shea led NIU on the event with a 9.750.
Alana Anderson scored a 9.725 on floor as well.
The Huskies closed out the meet on beam and were led by their anchor Werner who closed out the meet with an impressive performance on beam. Werner scored a 9.825 which tied her with two Redbirds for the win on the event.
Mikayla Brown (Suwanee, Ga./Peachtree Ridge) added a 9.725 on beam.
NIU returns home to the NIU Convocation Center on Sunday, Feb. 2 at 1 p.m. when the Huskies welcome EMU in a dual. The dual is the Huskies first MAC dual of the season.
"I feel like we are starting to build," Teague said. "We still have some work to do but we are on the build and improving. I can't wait to see what we do on Sunday."
-- NIU --
