Dawnita Teague Last College: Northern Illinois Position: Assistant Coach Experience: Third Season at NIU Graduated: 1984

Huskie Hall of Famer Dawnita (Doty) Teague begins her third season as a member of the gymnastics coaching staff at her alma mater. Her expertise as a coach, judge and choreographer has resulted in improved routines and higher scores for the Huskies over the last two seasons.

For the last 21 years, Teague has been a coach and choreographer at Energym Gymnastics in her native Sycamore, where she coached all levels of competitive gymnastics, as well as dance and choreography. While specializing in balance beam and floor dance, Teague has seen many of her protégés earn state and regional championships, as well as Top 10 finishes at the U.S.A. Gymnastics nationals. In 2006, she coached gymnasts who placed second and ninth on the balance beam at the Level 9 Nationals.

Teague has also served for the past 23 years as a gymnastics judge, achieving a Level 10 rating from the National Association of Women's Gymnastics Judges. She has worked as a master clinician in Region 5 and for the Illinois Congress for the balance beam and floor dance component.

A four-year letterwinner for the Huskies from 1980-84, Teague was named the Huskies' Female Athlete of the Year in 1981 when she participated in the 1981 AIAW Midwest Regional. She earned the Women's Leadership Award in 1984 and was inducted into the Huskie Hall of Fame in 1989. Following graduation, she spent four years (1987-90) as a dancer with the Dance-scape Dance Company.

Teague, who graduated from Sycamore High School, earned her bachelor's degree in theatre dance from Northern Illinois in 1984. She now resides in her hometown with her husband, Don, and sons Zach (18) and Matt (15).