NIU gymnastics competed alongside wrestling Friday night in the Beauty and the Beast meet, taking on Kent State University in its second MAC matchup in the season. Strong performances on vault gave NIU a solid start, but KSU’s dominance in all other events gave them the edge.
Despite reaching their highest score of the season, the Huskies (2-8, 1-1 MAC) fell to the Golden Flashes (6-0, 3-0 MAC) 195.200-193.450.
“Our confidence is building,” said NIU gymnastics interim head coach Dawnita “Nita” Teague. “We just keep hitting. I love the team vibe and the confidence. We just need to clean up our gymnastics to reach our goals.”
For her fourth consecutive meet, junior Kiera O’Shea executed a first-place finish on vault, tying KSU sophomore Nene Alvine with a 9.825 score. Sophomore Dawsyn Sallee and freshman Audrey Brenner had a three-way tie for third with Golden Flashes sophomore Gabby Riley, scoring 9.750. As a standout on vault, O’Shea attributed NIU’s success to newcomers who push for harder skills in the event.
“Our talent coming in has been phenomenal with vaults,” O’Shea said. “We’ve built a lot since I’ve been here. I know in years before I came here, (the team) would just do layouts. It’s just bringing in new, great talent. We have a few girls who can do that same vault that I can, and they’re just continuing to train that. We focus on the beginning of the board and really absorbing at the end. That’s what’s got us to where we are.”
O’Shea, Sallee and Brenner helped the Huskies win the vault event, with a total score of 48.750.
Following her third-place finish on vault, Sallee gave strong performances in the balance beam and floor events, scoring 9.650 and 9.775 respectively.
“I was coming off of a shaky practice the day before,” Sallee said. “I was very proud of myself for coming out here and putting all the pieces together for the team. As a team, we also did really well putting the pieces together. We didn’t come out on top, but it was definitely better.”
Sophomore Isabella Ross also delivered solid balance beam and floor routines, scoring 9.650 and 9.800, respectively. After battling the flu last week in her uneven bars and balance beam routines, Ross thanked her coaches for believing in her ability to perform.
“Training all-around, competing all-around, dealing with that type of stuff is just a little crazy,” Ross said. “It’s definitely worth it. I’m really glad that my coaches trust me, and I trust them to make decisions like that to step back and do what I did today.”
UP NEXT
The Huskies compete in the SEMO Tri-Meet against hosting Southeast Missouri State University and Centenary College at 6:30 p.m. Friday in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
