Kim Gotlund
Northern Illinois junior Kim Gotlund has been named to the first All Mid-American Conference gymnastics team based on regular season performance, the MAC Office announced Friday on the eve of the MAC Gymnastics Championships.
Gotlund, an all-arounder from Wadsworth, Ill., was one of six gymnasts selected to the team, which was selected by league head coaches.
Gotlund has been the Huskies’ top all-arounder and one of the team’s most consistent gymnasts on every event in 2013. She is ranked fourth in the MAC in the all-around and has shown her consistency with seven top five finishes on floor, four on beam, three on bars and three on vault this year.
NIU head coach Sam Morreale said Gotlund has continued to work to improve throughout her time at Northern Illinois and has not had many off meets, or missed routines, in 2013.
“Her biggest assets this year have been her work ethic and her consistency,” Morreale said. “This year, she improved and upgraded her skills on every event. She added a new skill on bars over the summer and it shows she’s still working on her craft and she’s going to keep climbing the mountain.”
Gotlund has five scores of 38.750 or higher in the all-around this year, topped by a career-high 39.025 mark versus Kent State. He has set or tied her career-best marks in three events this season, twice scoring a 9.850 on floor and posting a 9.800 on balance beam. Her averages rank among the NIU team leaders on every event.
A year ago, Gotlund was named to the second team All-MAC squad based on her fifth-place finish in the All-Around competition at the MAC Championships. Morreale was happy to see the Huskies represented on the first regular season All-MAC team selected by the head coaches.
“It’s a great honor for Kim and it’s great for NIU gymnastics,” Morreale said. “ For her to get that respect and recognition as a junior says a lot. Being a part of the first All-MAC team selected by the coaches and not based on where you finish in the conference meet speaks to the consistency she has shown this year.”
Also named to the All-MAC first team were Kent State’s Rachel Guida and Marie Case, Brittney Emmons of Ball State, WMU’s Kayla Weber and Brittany Petzold of Central Michigan.
Gotlund and her Huskie teammates are in Kalamazoo for the 2013 MAC Gymnastics Championships, which will be held at Western Michigan’s Read Fieldhouse beginning at 1 p.m. (CDT) Saturday, March 23. Live scoring is available online.
For more information on NIU gymnastics and Huskie athletics, visit www.niuhuskies.com.
