The NIU women’s gymnastics team was on a roll last weekend with victories over Illinois-Chicago and Wisconsin-LaCrosse, while the men’s squad stumbled against Penn State.

NIU’s women ran away with the team competition totaling 180.45 while UWL was next at 173.45 and UIC trailed at 169.55.

Vicki Thimgan came in first in vaulting for NIU with a 9.30 and Martha Unger finished with 9.25 on the uneven parallel bars. Thimgan also came in first on the balance beam with a 9.55 performance.

Laurie Vitallo tied the school record of 9.65 which was originally set by Leigh-Ann Carruthers against Southeast Missouri State Univesity (3-8-86).

NIU boosted its dual-meet ledger to 5-3.

The men’s team found out it can improve its team total even on the road. Granted it was only a boost of .05, but the key was progress.

However, that rise and even a split in individual event blue ribbons wasn’t enough to earn NIU an upset of Penn State last Saturday as the Nittany Lions tallied a 275.60-270.45 victory.

Waldemar Kolasa helped lead NIU’s charge claiming first-place finishes on both vault (9.40) and parallel bars (9.35). In addition, Carlos E. Fulcher ruled the floor exercise with his 9.50 performance.