Entering his eighth season at the helm of the Northern Illinois women's gymnastics program, Mark Sontag has positioned the Huskies to rank among the Mid-American Conference's elite, both in the gym and in the classroom.

Since arriving at Northern Illinois in 1999, Sontag has seen the academic ranking of his team rise from the No. 69 program in the country to No. 14 on the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches annual list. Now, he and his staff are determined to see the Huskies' competitive ranking take the same leap.

Just as the Huskies have climbed the national rankings in terms of academic standing while establishing themselves as the top team of student-athletes on the NIU campus, Sontag has Northern Illinois poised to climb the Mid-American Conference and regional ranks to reach the next level, competitively.

"Our goal is to develop this team to where we are competing for the MAC Championship on a yearly basis," Sontag said. "We have a strong program in terms of the depth of our team and certainly in the classroom. All the bricks are in place to enable us to push forward and achieve our goal of winning a MAC Championship."

In the classroom, Sontag's Huskies already crush the competition as the gymnasts have posted the top cumulative grade point average of any NIU team in each of the last four semesters. With a team G.P.A. of 3.351, Northern Illinois' 20-woman squad includes 17 student-athletes with a cumulative mark of 3.0 or higher and nine gymnasts with a 3.5 or above.

In the gym, the skill levels of Huskie gymnasts have continued to rise, as have the NIU team scoring records as Sontag's recruiting efforts have added talent and depth. Sontag's 2005 squad posted a third-place finish in the Mid-American Conference Championships, tying for the school's best showing at that meet, and his 2006 Huskies finished second in the Illinois State Championships. NIU set a school record with a team score of 195.650 at the same event in 2003.

Individually, Sontag has seen several of his Huskie gymnasts achieve success, as NIU gymnasts have made 10 appearances at the NCAA Regionals during his tenure. In 2003, Kristina Campos became just the second four-time regional qualifier in NIU history and the only Northern Illinois student-athlete ever named the Mid-American Conference Gymnast of the Year. She capped that historic season with a 10th-place finish in the all-around competition at the NCAA South Central Regional. In 2004, Northern Illinois sent a school-record four gymnasts to the NCAA Regionals, and 2005 saw both Campos and Ashlee Williams, who won the individual title on the uneven parallel bars at the 2005 MAC Championships, advance to national competition. Williams, a CoSIDA Academic All-American as a senior, is also the only Huskie gymnast selected as the league's Freshman of the Year, an honor she won in 2003.

Sontag came to Northern Illinois after nine years as the assistant coach at his alma mater, Southeast Missouri State, where he helped the Redhawks (then Otahkians) win the 1991 Division II National Championship in his first season at the school.

After adjusting to a move to the Division I ranks in 1992, Southeast Missouri State made six straight trips to the National Invitational Tournament of Women's Gymnastics from 1993-99. SEMO twice finished second at that meet after seventh-place showings at the NCAA Regionals. Individually, Southeast Missouri State's Erin Chenier won national balance beam titles in the United States and Canada.

While working with the Redhawks, Sontag also helped coordinate the team's promotions and fundraising efforts, which resulted in an average home attendance of 1,100 fans. He served as the head gymnastics coach at the Cape Gymnastics Center during his time in Cape Girardeau and directed SEMO's summer gymnastics camps, while also working the camps of Top 25 teams at Alabama, Missouri, Iowa State and Michigan.

Prior to joining the coaching staff at Southeast Missouri State, Sontag spent two seasons as head gymnastics coach for the Broward School District in Pembroke Pines, Fla. He began his coaching career at the Sun Valley Gymnastics Center in his hometown of St. Louis, Mo. While at Sun Valley, his team qualified for the United States Gymnastics Federation competition for the first time in the program's history.

Sontag is USA Gymnastics certified in many areas, including Safety, Skill Test Evaluator, Meet Director and Athlete Wellness. He earned his bachelor's degree from Southeast Missouri State in 1997.

-- NIU --