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Northern Illinois Gymnasts Take On Ball State Sunday

Start Super Sunday with Gymnastics Action at NIU



Senior Allison Holysz has helped make the Huskies one of the top bar teams in the country.

Feb. 1, 2008

DeKALB, Ill. - The Northern Illinois gymnastics team hopes to make this Sunday "super" by starting their Super Bowl Sunday with their second straight home victory of the season when they play host to Mid-American Conference foe Ball State at 2 p.m. in the Convocation Center.

Northern Illinois is coming off a 193.400-188.125 victory over Western Michigan last week that evened the Huskies' record at 1-1 on the young season.

NIU was led by the junior tandem of Leah Johnson (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South HS) and Jennifer Naughton (Smithville, Mo./Smithville HS) versus WMU. Johnson claimed wins in the all-around, bars and floor competition en route to her second straight Mid-American Conference Gymnast of the Week honor. Naughton won the balance beam competition and shared top honors on the floor exercise with Johnson as she was named the MAC's Specialist of the Week.

Northern Illinois Head Coach Mark Sontag hopes his team continues to develop consistency throughout the line-up.

"It's a case of trying to be as consistent with our higher level skills as we can be," Sontag said. "Between our first and second meets, we cut our mistakes in half. We're going in the right direction and we want to continue doing that."

As a team, NIU has posted two of the top five team scores in the MAC this season in their first two meets of the year. The key to that success has been outstanding performances and depth up and down the line-up, Sontag said.

"In the past we have relied heavily on one or two people, whereas the better schools in the MAC are deeper," he said. "This year, we have moved to that level where we are not dependent on one or two people to have to hit their routines in order for us to be successful."

In addition to Naughton and Johnson, Northern Illinois has seen freshman Holly Reichard (Palatine, Ill./Fremd HS) turn in one of the top all-around scores in the league while sophomore Natalie Blum (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport Township HS) also ranks as one of the league's best in her events.

 

 

With just four home meets this season, the Huskies hope to entice fans to start a "Super Sunday" of sports with Northern Illinois gymnastics.

"We hope to have another great home crowd to cheer on our student-athletes," Sontag said. "Competing at home is a big advantage in gymnastics. Fans can come here and see our athletes compete at a high level with great energy and spirit in the Convocation Center, and then head off to watch the game."

Following Sunday's action, Northern Illinois returns to competition Saturday, Feb. 16 with a 5 p.m. meet at Illinois-Chicago.

-- NIU --