Has anyone seen head gymnastics’ coach Bobbie Cesarek lately?

With NIU’s gymnastic season still months away (mid-January) she is probably at the golf course, right?

Wrong. Between running pre-season practices, recruiting and filling out dreaded NCAA reports, it is hard to believe this is a coach in the “off-season.”

The Huskies have been practicing and working on routines since Sept. 23, which is actually a few weeks later than usual due to new guidelines enforced by the NCAA that limit the athletes’ practice and competition time.

“The shorter amount of practice time is hurting us so far,” Cesarek said. “Obviously we are not as far along as we normally would be at this time but we won’t know what the real effects are until the end of the season.”

In fact, Cesarek even believes the restriction could play in NIU’s favor.

“We’re going to have to push to get ready and might just peak when we need to,” Cesarek said. “Last year we peaked a little early and by the time we got to regionals the girls were mentally and physically exhausted.”

The Huskies, 20-1 last year, took a fifth place finish in the NCAA Regional Championship. Besides losing two seniors, Martha Unger and Laurie Vitallo, NIU has the same team back.

Freshman Tiffany Bollinger and Amy Davis are NIU’s newest members, as well as walk-on Celeste Cutter. Sandy Escobar will also be returning after an ankle injury forced her to sit out as a redshirt last year.

“The new girls are looking great,” Cesarek said. “Amy (Davis) is on the same level as Martha (Unger) and Tiffany (Bollinger) is a better all-around than Laurie (Vitallo).”

But Cesarek is a little leery about the upcoming schedule.

“Our schedule is really tough so you might not see as many wins,” Cesarek said. “In gymnastics, though, winning and losing aren’t as important as they are in other sports. What’s important is that we put points on the board.”