With the culmination of the gymnastics season Saturday at Western Michigan, there are factors that are good and bad for the future of the NIU squad.

Obviously, the first problem is NIU losing two seniors. Marisa Liptak is one of the highest scoring members of floor squad and Natalie Sutter provided high scores on all four events this season.

The positive part: Head coach Sam Morreale brought in freshman classes the past two seasons that came in, started and performed well. There is wiggle room with the line-up to replace the two lost seniors and see what the newcomers and the soon-to-be sophomores can do.

Getting younger and new talent in every year is a strong part of any sport program, and Morreale has done a good job of that. Sophomores, especially Amanda Stepp, as well as Shelby Davis and Morgan Johnson, all started this season, contributing greatly in their respective events.

The freshmen also came in and made a significant impact, with both Lauren Africano and Natalie Amadio playing big parts. Despite Amadio being out injured a majority of the season, she stood as second and Africano in fourth in average bar scoring, respectively.

Freshman Jaelyn Olsen also came on in a big way as she led the team on vault the whole season, averaging 9.779 overall on the year.

As a team, the Huskies upped their average team score from last year, going from 192.827 to 193.438, which is significant given who they lost from last season with the likes of Shonda Clore, Tanya Rachan and Ashley Guerra leaving the program.

If the freshmen and returning members could actually improve from the talent lost last season, there’s no reason for that not to happen next season.

This year’s team was much more consistent than last year’s, with its lowest score a 192.075, and it had a run of four consecutive 194 scores.

Last season’s team did manage to eclipse the 195 mark once. Both seasons provided nearly identical MAC championship results, with both teams taking home fourth place, and this year’s roster slightly underperforming score-wise at 194.050 compared to last season’s 194.525.

One of the only real values that can be gained from comparing two separate seasons would be the gymnasts who stayed. Many of the returning members put up better overall seasons under Morreale, including juniors Megan Melendez and Kim Gotlund, and sophomores Stepp and Kelly Nortz.

I think the way the MAC is trending, Morreale is at a prime position to improve the program even more. It’s a sales pitch to have two schools nationally ranked in Kent State and Central Michigan. Their success opens the door for NIU to find more success. If the soon-to-be sophomores can take on more responsibility and perform at the same level or better as this season, the product for next season looks bright.