NIU gymnastics traveled to Central Michigan University on Friday afternoon for its final head-to-head MAC matchup of the season. Junior Kiera O’Shea shined for the Huskies, placing first in both the vault and balance beam events. Her routines, alongside the rest of the squad’s, kept the meet close, but weren’t enough to beat out the CMU Chippewas.
The Huskies (5-12, 2-4 MAC) came up short against the Chips (14-3, 5-1 MAC) 194.400-194.175.
“We were being competitive all the way through the end,” said NIU gymnastics interim head coach Dawnita “Nita” Teague. “It was really close, so it’s a little bit hard. We didn’t come through with the win this time, but we had a lot of great performances. I think it was a good building competition as we’re going into the home stretch here.”
O’Shea tied for first place on vault with CMU senior Lia Kmieciak, both scoring 9.850 in the event. This marks her seventh first-place victory on vault this season. O’Shea placed first on the balance beam, scoring another 9.850. This was her first time placing first in the event this season.
“It’s really exciting to have gotten my groove back,” O’Shea said. “I’ve been in a little bit of a lull I feel like with both vault and beam. Today was really validating. I’m excited that I was able to do that today, and go into our next meet on Sunday with that under my belt.”
Freshman Aliyah Kelly came in first place all-around, topping a five-gymnast podium. She tied for third place on the uneven bars with Chippewas sophomore Gabrielle Johnson, scoring 9.825. She scored 9.650 on balance beam, 9.625 on vault and 9.750 on floor. This was her second meet competing all-around this season, and she explained the confidence this gives her for the rest of her NIU gymnastics career.
“I’m hoping to stay competing all-around for the next three years here,” Kelly said. “With the rate that I’m going right now, I feel like I could definitely get a lot better than I am already. It’s just a matter of physically and mentally being there, trusting the process and going with the flow.”
Sophomore Mikayla Brown placed second on the balance beam, scoring 9.800. She explained how the team is focusing on perfecting their technique before their final meet of the season.
“We are hoping to nail down those details,” Brown said. “Not just to not give any tenths away, but to do our best gymnastics. That’s what we’re focused on, more than winning. We’ve been climbing all season, and it’s time for us to perform with confidence.”
UP NEXT
The Huskies compete in their last meet of the regular season against the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Fighting Illini at 1 p.m. Sunday in Urbana-Champaign. Live stats will be updated on StatBroadcast.
