NIU gymnastics battled against six other institutions in the MAC Championship on Saturday afternoon. The Huskies showcased competitive all-around performances and reached a season-high score on floor in Mount Pleasant, Michigan.
The team claimed one podium spot in the meet, with senior Ellery Werner tying for third on balance beam. Her score along with the new season-high on floor landed NIU in sixth place to end the season with an overall score of 192.925.
The Huskies fell against MAC champions Central Michigan University (195.725), runners-up Eastern Michigan University (195.525), Western Michigan University and Kent State University (195.300) and Ball State University (195.075). They beat out Bowling Green State University (191.700) to finish sixth.
“After a little rough start, we finished super strong,” said NIU gymnastics interim head coach Dawnita “Nita” Teague. “I’m super proud of the athletes and how they finished. We had a great floor run, we did really well on beam and a great vault.”
With her first season as head coach under her belt, Teague says the sky’s the limit for NIU gymnastics next season.
“Our team was really young, and a lot of kids got great experience,” Teague said. “I only see the future as going up from here.”
Werner scored 9.825 to tie for third place on beam, securing NIU’s solo podium spot of the meet. She tied with WMU sophomore Julie Korfhage and senior Gigi Singh. With this being the last meet of her college career, Werner reflected on her time with NIU gymnastics.
“It was the last routine of my career,” Werner said. “I think everyone wants to go out with a bang, so it was so exciting to get to stand on the podium and see my parents in the stands. It was a full-circle moment. I couldn’t have asked for a better day or a better way to end my career.”
She explained what she’s looking forward to after graduating and moving on from gymnastics.
“I’m really excited for what’s to come,” Werner said. “It’ll be a change, as most senior athletes experience. I’m excited to start a job, and start living that grown-up life and see what everything is after sports. It’ll definitely be a part of me forever. Starting that chapter, I couldn’t have asked for a better close on this one. I’m excited for my next steps in life and next goals to accomplish.”
Junior Kiera O’Shea competed all-around for the Huskies, and finished fourth out of seven all-around gymnasts with a 38.800 overall score. She revealed that she’s been working through an achilles injury, wearing a boot for the past month while still competing. Fighting through the injury, she said she was proud of her floor performance.
“Bars started off a little not to the best of my ability,” O’Shea said. “I think I was able to pick it back up for the rest of the events. I was extremely happy with my floor; I feel like that was the best floor routine I’ve done all season. Coming back from kind of an achilles injury, to be able to do that was so exciting.”
She talked about her goals for next season as an all-around gymnast.
“Clean everything up, and keep everything that I’ve already done to the best of my ability,” O’Shea said. “I know my all-arounds can get even better, and to still be viable on all four events is definitely a goal of mine. I’m going to keep working towards that all summer.”
Freshman Aliyah Kelly finished fifth amongst all-arounders with a total score of 38.775. After competing in her first MAC Championship meet, she reflected on coming back from an illness to become an all-arounder for the Huskies through the second half of the season.
“I’m feeling like I’m on the up,” Kelly said. “It’s definitely only my freshman year. I was out for the first half of the season, so seeing myself progress this much with only a few months of practice has been so surreal. I’m so proud of myself.”
Looking forward to her sophomore year, Kelly hopes to reach regionals on any event with more showings next season.
“My dream is to eventually have a good ranking in the US,” Kelly said. “I know that for my NQS (National Qualifying Score), I don’t have the best. I feel like next year since I’m going to have more opportunities to score higher with more meets. Because this year I was so limited, I feel like I could definitely get higher NQSs and hopefully make it to regionals. That’s my ultimate goal, to make it to regionals as an individual.”
The Huskies ended their 2025 season 5-13 overall and 2-4 in the conference. Teague said the support of the fans made her first season as head coach a memorable one.
“I thank them for all of their support and well wishes,” Teague said. “It really means a lot. I loved being head coach this year, and it was super rewarding.”
