Women's Gymnastics | March 20

DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University gymnastics team is off to the Mid-American Championships this weekend, competing at Bowling Green on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT on ESPN+. The Huskies will compete in rotation two (floor), four (vault), six (bars) and seven (beam).

Junior Dawsyn Sallee (Versailles, Ky. / Woodford County High) had a standout season for NIU on vault, finishing with the sixth-best NQS score (9.810) and third-highest average (9.786) in the MAC. The junior scored a 9.700 or higher in all 11 meets and earned a 9.800 five times. Sallee had two wins on vault this season.

Junior Mikayla Brown (Suwanee, Ga. / Peachtree Ridge) has a NQS of 9.780 on beam, ranking 10th in the MAC. Brown has led the Huskies on beam six times this season and earned the highest score by an NIU gymnast with a 9.850 in the Beauty and the Beast Meet.

Brown and Sallee each have seven top-three finishes in 2026, tied with sophomore Drake White (Indianapolis, Ind. / Bishop Chatard) for the most this season. White appeared in all 11 meets this season, competing across vault, bars and floor in each meet. The sophomore opened the year by competing as an all-arounder against Kent State and Eastern Michigan, finishing with a season-high 38.600 against the Eagles.

The Huskies received a huge boost from the freshman class this season, combining for 13 top-three finishes and eight wins. Makenna Brooks enters the MAC Championships with a 9.800 or higher on floor in two of the last three meets, including a team-best 9.875 vs. Central Michigan on Feb. 27.

NIU has five returners who competed in the MAC Championships last season in Brown, sophomore Audrey Brenner, senior Jocelyn Harbeck, junior Isabella Ross and Sallee. Saturday will be Harbeck's third time competing at the conference championships and second for fellow senior Samantha Nickle.

Harbeck (Frankfort, Ill. / Lincoln-Way East) competed as an all-arounder for the first time in her career in the Minnesota quad meet to end the season and has appeared in all 11 meets this season on vault and floor. Nickle (Yorktown, Va. / York) set a career-high on vault earlier this month in the Iowa quad meet and has competed in all 11 meets on vault, beam and floor.