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Ashley Guerra earns MAC weekly honor

March 15, 2011
Ashley Guerra

Ashley Guerra

Northern Illinois junior gymnast Ashley Guerra picked up Mid-American Conference Specialist of the Week honors after her routines on uneven parallel bars and balance beam helped the Huskies to a season-high team score and a second-place finish at the State of Illinois Classic.

Guerra scored a career-best 9.800 on balance beam to tie for eighth place in the quadrangular meet, and tied her season high with a 9.825 on uneven parallel bars to tie for fourth place. She recorded a 9.800 or higher on both events for the first time in her career. 

Guerra’s scores helped the Huskies to a 194.025 team total, their highest score since the 2009 season. Northern Illinois took second at the State of Illinois Classic, held at NIU’s Chick Evans Fieldhouse, behind No. 16 Illinois.

“This is a well-deserved honor for Ashley,” said NIU head coach Mark Sontag. “She has gone up on bars and beam week after week and been very consistent for us. It’s nice to see her get rewarded after coming through for us again this past weekend.”

Guerra has been Northern Illinois’ top performer on uneven parallel bars this season as she has scored 9.600 or higher in nine of NIU’s 10 meets and scored a 9.775 or higher in four of the Huskies’ last five meets. The Palatine native has notched her two highest scores of the season on balance beam in NIU’s last two outings.

Guerra and her Huskie teammates compete in the 2011 Mid-American Conference Championships at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 19, in Mt. Pleasant, Mich.

For more information on NIU gymnastics and Huskie athletics, visit www.niuhuskies.com.