The Northern Illinois gymnastics team rebounded from a rough outing on the uneven parallel bars with outstanding performances on the balance beam and floor exercise to claim a 190.600-189.675 come-from-behind victory over Western Michigan Sunday at the NIU Convocation Center.
The victory improved NIU's overall record to 2-0 and gave the Huskies a 1-0 start in Mid-American Conference competition. Western Michigan fell to 1-4, 1-1 MAC.
Trailing the Broncos by 1.250 points after the second rotation of the day, NIU pulled out the win in the last rotation as the Huskies' final three gymnasts posted the best scores of their respective careers on floor exercise, while four of the Broncos' six gymnasts fell off the balance beam. Huskie senior Natalie Blum and sophomore Tanya Rachan capped the comeback with back-to-back scores of 9.825 on floor exercise to tie for first on the event, while freshman Natalie Sutter preceded them with a 9.700, good for fourth place.
"We put ourselves in a hole after bars, which is unusual," said NIU coach Mark Sontag. "Plus, we are still shorthanded, so that made our challenge even tougher. I'm very proud of the whole team. Every member stepped up and that's what we had to have."
Northern Illinois was rock-solid on the balance beam in the third rotation with five scores between 9.525 and 9.750, led by Rachan's 9.750, which tied for first on the day. Sarah Hurley tied for third with a 9.675 on beam.
"Tanya came up and hit two great sets [on beam and floor] and that is what this team is about. We knew we weren't done [after bars], we're not done until the lights are off in the gym," Sontag said. "I knew first we had to hit beam. Once we hit beam, I thought we had enough [to get the win] if we could hit floor. And that's exactly what happened. It was an exciting meet."
Sutter, in just her second collegiate meet, tied Blum and WMU's Kristine Garbarino for the vault title. Competing as an all-arounder for just the second time, Blum recorded a career best 38.600 to take second behind Garbarino, who scored a 38.925.
Still missing several injured gymnasts from the line-up, Northern Illinois welcomed back all-arounder and 2009 MAC Gymnast of the Year Holly Reichard on bars. The junior took second in the event with a 9.700.
