Despite not making it to regionals this time around, junior all-around gymnast Kim Gotlund had a successful season.

Gotlund improved her overall score average by more than .400 points from last season, and she greatly improved her performance on the uneven parallel bars this year.

While Gotlund missed out on regionals this season, she does not deflect her own responsibility, and believes it just requires more work and that she could have done better.

Despite that belief, the performance she put in during the season was good enough to garner her a first team All-MAC squad placement, as decided by the MAC school head coaches.

Gotlund became the first gymnast to be a first-team All-MAC representative for NIU since 2009.

In addition to that honor, her scoring topped her personal bests from previous years, as she notched a new record all-around score with a 39.025 at Kent State. For all-around scores, she placed in the top two five times and placed in the top three of floor scores five times.

With one year left, Gotlund is not only excited by her performance this year, but the prospect of what next year could bring for her and her teammates.

“I am a lot more confident and comfortable in my gymnastics this year,” Gotlund said. “I made some improvements from last year. The end of the season wasn’t really what I hoped individually, but I’m really excited for my team and for myself next year in my last year. I’m just really motivated and excited for next year.”