DeKALB — With its highest finish in program history, the gymnastics team placed second Saturday in the Mid-American Conference Championships.

NIU finished with its best score of the season at 195.875. Central Michigan took full advantage of being on home turf, scoring a 197.025 to win the MAC Championship.

“Obviously we wanted to be MAC Champs, but we had a great meet and gave it our all,” said Head Coach Sam Morreale. “It’s great getting into the history books. It’s our highest finish all time at the [MAC] Championship. All-in-all, it was a really good meet.”

The Huskies got off to a strong start on the floor exercise, scoring 49.050 in their first event of the day. Junior Anna Martucci scored 9.875 to lead the event for NIU. None of the Huskies scored lower than a 9.700.

NIU also had a good day on vault, where the team matched its top event score of 49.050. Sophomore Amanda Bartemio and senior Ashley Potts each scored 9.850 to lead the team.

“I’m very proud of Amanda Bartemio who came out of this as a vault MAC Champion,” Morreale said. “It’s cool to see her as an underclassman come into her own. When the lights turn on in a competition situation, she really steps up her game.”

The Huskies scored 48.975 on the uneven bars led by Potts who scored 9.850. NIU’s lowest score in the event was 9.750, showing another incredibly consistent event for the Huskies.

NIU finished out the championship meet on the balance beam, scoring a collective 48.800. Senior Katherine Prentice led the team in the final event with a score of 9.900.

“It’s a culmination of a very long, hard and physical year,” Morreale said. “They were all very proud of themselves, as well as me being proud of them.”

Prentice, Potts and Martucci will represent NIU at the NCAA Regionals April 7.

“They are all at the top of their game,” Morreale said. “We felt like we could get through to that next round of nationals before, but now I truly believe that any one of these three, if not all three have a shot to qualify through to the final round.”