The women’s gymnastics team concluded its season in Western Michigan on a high note, but missed out on opportunities to walk away on top.

The Huskies (4-5, 2-5 MAC) finished in fourth place out of seven at their conference championship event. Central Michigan and host school Western Michigan both took home the title, tying with an overall score of 194.800. Kent State took third with a 194.775 effort, and NIU slid into fourth with a 194.050. Behind NIU was Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan and Ball State, respectively.

While the placing was a good showing for NIU as it got back to its higher-scoring ways, the team had a shot at placing higher or even winning the event if not for having to count falls on beam and bars.

Head coach Sam Morreale knows NIU had that chance, but he also has praise for his team after a slow start.

“I’m extremely proud of the Huskies and how they came back,” Morreale said in a news release. “The kids stayed in it, which has been our mantra all year. Based on the way the scores fell out in the end, if we don’t count those misses on bars and beam, we’re in contention for the title. We were closer to the top than we were to the bottom and that’s where we want to be.”

NIU achieved school history with the vault squad going for a record-setting 49.000, which was led by sophomore Amanda Stepp with a 9.850. The lowest score the vault team counted was a 9.750 en route to breaking a record set in 2004.

“To end the meet on vault and to go 49 and to break the record is just something we didn’t think would happen,” said senior Natalie Sutter. “We were ecstatic and we were so pumped with each vault that went through. I don’t think we could have ended the meet on a positive note.”

Sutter was impressive for NIU as she posted her career-high all-around score and secured a third-place finish at the event with a 38.900.

“It felt amazing,” Sutter said. “I really can’t think of a better way to end my gymnastics career. I’m just really happy everything turned out as best as I could possibly imagine.”

The Huskies scored 49.000 on vault and a 49.025 on floor, but came up short on the beam and bars events, where they posted 48.200 and 47.775, respectively.

The opportunity was there but a few missed routines spoiled the chances; however, as Morreale noted, the meet was two-fold for his team. He loses two seniors who contributed all year long and especially at this event with Sutter placing third in all-around and Marisa Liptak contributing to the 49 on floor.

“Amanda [Stepp] had a great day, Megan [Melendez] had a great day, and that’s what’s encouraging,” Morreale said in a news release. “Yes, we are losing two seniors, but we had freshmen leading off the meet and hitting. We had Jaelyn Olsen go up and hit on vault. Those kids now have a taste and now they all want to be in more events. The experience is only going to help us moving forward.”

The Huskies’ fourth place shows the MAC is competitive and talented. On the floor for the whole event, four of the top five scores were 9.900 or higher, including a 9.950 from Central Michigan’s Halle Moraw.

Morreale does not find satisfaction with the result. He is still taking positives, but he knows where improvements need to be made going into next season and is looking forward to that opportunity.

“Are we satisfied with fourth? I don’t think that’s the way we feel,” Morreale said in a news release. “It’s hard when you see what could have been. It’s exciting that the MAC has become so competitive. The key is to come in [next season] at a higher level than the 192s we had early this year. That’s where it starts. We had a lot of great things happen today; we just had to count two misses and that cost us.”