DeKALB — Gymnastics senior Ashley Potts got the top score of the meet with an all-around total score of 39.350 points in another outstanding individual performance in NIU’s home match Sunday against the Central Michigan Chippewas.
Unfortunately, the NIU star’s efforts were in vain in another close loss to a Mid-American Conference team. The Chippewas pulled out a narrow .700-point victory over NIU, with a final score of 195.650 to 194.950. Central Michigan’s Denelle Pedrick was the only other all-around competitor with an overall score of 38.65.
Potts’ score tied the sixth highest all-around score in school history and set a new career high for herself.
Head Coach Sam Morreale said things are coming easy for Potts this season, and she looks very comfortable in every event she does.
“I can’t say enough about Potts,” Morreale said. “She’s just amazing at what she does. Honestly, she did this stuff last year, it just took her a little longer to get here. She works her butt off every day, so it’s really good to see.”
Senior Katherine Prentice also had a strong showing, posting a 38.975 all-around score, good for second in the match, trailing Potts.
“Kat just keeps getting better and better,” Morreale said. “Her all-around score was pretty decent. On floor, you always worry with an athlete going from three to four events, how comfortable they’re going to be. She’s just another one that is working hard all the time. Her and Potts both want to make their senior seasons special.”
Five more Huskies hit career highs as well. Freshman Mia Lord made her debut for the Huskies, scoring a 9.675 on the balance beam.
Morreale said the team built on some of the things from last week, but struggling to start the meet was one of the main keys to the loss.
“It was a really great meet, great atmosphere,” Morreale said. “We came up on the short end of the stick, but we did well. It was our first time with our full vault crew, so we’re only going to get better there. If we can get down our landings, not only on vault but on beam and floor, we are going to be right where we want to be.”
The Huskies will be back in action 6:30 p.m. Friday to take on the West Virginia University Mountaineers and the Iowa State University Cyclones in Ames, Iowa.
