NIU gymnastics will become a member of the Mountain West Conference beginning in the 2026-207 school year the school announced Thursday, joining the Huskies’ football team in the new conference.

NIU joined the Mountain West in football back in January, then in March joined the Horizon League for sports other than football, wrestling and gymnastics.

Earlier in the week NIU announced its wrestling program would be competing in the Pac-12.

“We are very happy to have our gymnastics program joining the Mountain West,” said NIU Vice-President/Director of Athletics and Recreation Sean T. Fraizer. “With football having already begun the transition to the Mountain West, we know that we have a great relationship with the conference and are excited to add gymnastics to that partnership.”

NIU becomes the fourth member of the Mountain West in gymnastics for the 2026-27 school year, joining Air Force, UC Davis and San José State.

“This is a great opportunity for NIU gymnastics,” said NIU head coach Dawnita ‘Nita’ Teague. “We appreciate Sean Frazier and Courtney Vinson for all the work that went into this move. We are grateful to the Mountain West for the invitation to join their conference. This is a very exciting time for our athletes, and we are looking forward to competing with our new conference opponents.”

Teague, a member of the NIU Athletics Hall of Fame who was named NIU’s Female Athlete of the Year in 1981, begins her second season as head coach of the Huskies this year. NIU gymnasts have qualified for NCAA regional competition in each of the last 11 years, with multiple qualifiers in nine of those seasons.