Huskie Hall of Fame gymnast Dawnita "Nita" Teague first came back to the NIU gymnastics program in 2007 as a coach and was elevated to the top assistant position in 2012. In November 2019, she was named associate head coach.
Teague brings expertise as a coach, judge and choreographer, as well as personal experience as a former standout NIU student-athlete and professional dancer.
In the gym, Teague works extensively with the Huskies on balance beam and floor exercise, where NIU gymnasts continue to excel and advance their skills. Outside the gym, Teague works closely with NIU head coach Sam Morreale in all aspects of recruiting and handles several administrative functions.
Under the current coaching staff of Morreale, Teague and assistant coach Chris Weiss, the Huskies have recorded their top finishes all-time in the last four MAC Championships, topped by winning the first MAC Championship in NIU women’s gymnastics history in 2019. NIU was second in 2018, 2021 and 2022.
Under Teague, the Huskies have earned six of their Top 10 all-time team scores on balance beam over the last four seasons, including a school-record 49.325 in 2020. The Huskies earned three of the program's Top 12 team beam scores last year.
Four Huskies – Mia Lord (2019), Holly Reichard, Jennifer Naughton (both 2009) and Alyssa Al-Ashari (2024) – have won Mid-American Conference titles on balance beam under Teague’s tutelage and all 10 of NIU’s top MAC Championship performances on beam have come during her tenure, including a MAC Championship clinching 49.275 in 2019.
Five of Teague’s NIU beam protégés have earned NCAA Regional bids on balance beam, including Naughton (2009), Megan Greenfield (2016), Mia Lord (2019), Zoie Schroeder (2021) and Al-Ashari (2024) she also has worked with the 12 Huskie all-arounders who have competed at Regionals since her arrival in 2007.
Teague spent 22 years as a coach and choreographer at Energym Gymnastics in nearby Sycamore, Illinois, where she coached all levels of competitive gymnastics, taught dance and served as a choreographer. While specializing in balance beam and floor dance, Teague saw many of her athletes earn state and regional titles, as well as Top 10 finishes at the U.S.A. Gymnastics nationals.
In 2006, she coached gymnasts who placed second and ninth on balance beam at the Level 9 Nationals. Teague also has more than 25 years of experience as a gymnastics judge, achieving a Level 10 rating from the National Association of Women’s Gymnastics Judges. She worked as a master clinician in Region 5 and for the Illinois Congress for the balance beam and floor dance component.
In addition to her duties with the Huskie gymnastics program, Teague serves as a member of the NIU Athletics Hall of Fame Committee.
A four-year letterwinner for the Huskies from 1980-84, then Dawnita Doty was named NIU’s Female Athlete of the Year in 1981 when she participated in the 1981 AIAW Midwest Regional. She earned the Women’s Leadership Award in 1984 and was inducted into the Huskie Hall of Fame in 1989.
After graduation, she spent four years (1987-90) as a dancer with the Dance-scape Dance Company.
Teague, a Sycamore High School graduate, earned her bachelor’s degree in theatre dance from NIU in 1984. Her family includes husband Don and sons Zach and Matt. Zach and his wife Sarah (Beltrane) have a son, Tate, while Matt and Caitlin (Nottingham) are the parents of Wyatt.
