NIU gymnastics junior Kiera O’Shea competed with the University of Alabama in the NCAA gymnastics regionals in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Friday afternoon. This is the second consecutive year O’Shea qualified for regionals on vault.
“I’m just happy that I made it,” O’Shea said. “I’m happy to be here. It was great to rotate with a team like Alabama and see their energy, and kind of just bring it to myself.”
Junior Kiera O’Shea earns a 9.575 on vault in Tuscaloosa!
pic.twitter.com/bW7GnCzGpc
— NIU Gymnastics (@Niugymnastics) April 4, 2025
O’Shea earned a 9.575 with her routine, which brings her junior season to a close.
NIU gymnastics interim head coach Dawnita “Nita” Teague traveled with O’Shea to Tuscaloosa and had nothing but praise for her routine and demeanor.
“She put out there another great vault,” Teague said. “I’m super proud of how she handled the pressure and atmosphere. She’s had a fantastic year on the vault.”
O’Shea reflected on the experience with less in-person support, but still felt the love from everyone back home.
“I’m just blessed to be able to get this experience,” O’Shea said. “It felt a little bit different this year by myself. I wasn’t with a teammate. This was one of the only meets that my parents weren’t able to come to. That all felt a little bit different, but I still felt the support from the coaches, my teammates, my parents, everybody. It felt really good.”
Heading into her senior season in 2026, O’Shea is pouring her efforts into continuing to improve as an all-around gymnast.
“It sounds stupid, but honestly just to get better than this year,” O’Shea said. “It was one of my goals this year to be able to compete all-around, and to do some of the skills that I’ve been training. I feel like I did that, and I want to do the same next year. I want to be viable in all the events, and continue to compete for the team.”
Having coached her through the season, Teague praised O’Shea’s growth as an all-arounder.
“Her confidence has grown a lot,” Teague said. “She stepped into the all-around role, so that was huge. She really stepped up our game stepping into the all-around, and she did a great job.”
O’Shea finished 2025 with seven first-place victories and two second-place finishes out of 12 regular-season meets. She vaulted in all 12 regular season meets for the Huskies this year, and never scored below 9.700. She reached a season-high score of 9.900 against Western Michigan University on Feb. 25.
