The NIU gymnastics team placed third at the State Championship meet Saturday against the Illinois State Redbirds, University of Illinois fighting Illini and the UIC Flames along with state titles from first-year Morgan Hooper and senior Anna Martucci.

The Huskies set a season high with a score of 195.750, but the Flames came out on top with a score of 196.150. The team’s previous season high was 195.700, made on Feb 17 in Muncie, Indiana against Ball State.

Head Coach Sam Morreale said he was very excited about the girls reaching their season high overall score.

“[As a coach], I’m ecstatic,” Morreale said. “It’s something we’ve been talking about all year. It’s gratifying just seeing these guys [make a season high score].”

NIU started off strong on uneven parallel bars, coming in second behind UIC with a score of 49.000. All huskie competitors scored over a 9.725. Coming in first was Hooper with her career-best score of 9.900 with Redbird senior Meredith LaRoche trailing close behind in second with a score of 9.875

Morreale said Hooper had the competitive drive in her to be great before she came to NIU.

“She’s been a really good competitor even before she came to us, especially on bars,” Morreale said. “She’s just a really talented kid. They’re all young ladies who are pretty confident in what they do.”

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On the beam, the Huskies struggled placing fourth with a mark of 48.650. The fighting Illini won the event with a score of 49.400. A pair of Fighting Illini placed first in the event with first-year Shaylah Scott and senior Mary Jane Otto both with scores of 9.925.

The Huskies placed third with a score of 48.725 on the vault. Placing first overall was Flames’ sophomore Kayla Baddeley with a 9.850. Junior Amanda Bartemio tied for fourth with a score of 9.800 with University of Illinois junior Lindsay Dwyer and senior Mary Jane Otto. Bartemio improved her score of 9.550 from last week’s meet against the Redbirds.

Morreale said that Bartemio worked hard to get where she is now on vault.

“Hard work [gave her a 9.800],” Morreale said. “The whole lineup had a really good day today. It was a really impressive vault [and]we feel really good about what she did today.”

On the floor exercise, the Huskies strongest event this season, NIU placed first with a score of 49.375. Senior Anna Martucci placed first in the event with a score of 9.950, not far from her career high of 9.975, a score she set last season.

Morreale said they need to continue to improve for the next meet and the Mid American Conference championships.

“[We need to work on] detail work on all of the events,” Morreale said. “It’s all the small little detail stuff. If we can walk into Central Michigan and have the same meet, I’ll be proud of these guys.”

Gymnastics will close out the regular season 6 p.m Friday in Mount Pleasant, Michigan against the Central Michigan Chippewas.