Today we’d like to introduce you to Zachary Cipra.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
After finishing 6th nationally in 1982, 8th in 1983, sending various individuals to compete in the NCAA National Championships and even producing a National Champion in 1984 Northern Illinois University dropped their men’s gymnastics program. With a storied history and a decade full of both team and individual success the chapter book was closed and put on the shelf.
Although NIU has always had a strong recreational gymnastics program since the program dropped, the birth of the Men’s GymACT Team began when former Head Coach Josh Levin learned about the GymACT program from Washington Coach Giancarlo Mora at 2018 Junior National Championships. Levin, as well as many proactive gymnastics enthusiasts were active online discussing ideas for Chicago gymnastics, this is when Levin met Southern California United coach Heinz Shulmeister. Coach Shulmeister was the first to call Coach Levin to tell his story of how he became the first person to start a collegiate co-op program using students from multiple schools. Heinz and Josh wondered if Chicago could do something similar.
A few weeks later, Josh got a call from Scott Barclay, the head coach at Arizona State, and told Levin that NIU was an amazing program back in the day and should consider starting a program there. That same week after Barclay’s call, an NIU club gymnast, Zach Cipra, showed up at the gymnastics club where Levin worked. When Zach met Coach Levin, it was a gymnastics relationship meant to happen from the heavens. That year, Levin and Zach recruited 9 other gymnasts in the area to join the first ever NIU GymACT program. The two of them worked together to create a program and structure to compete against other NCAA teams for the 1st time in the 2020 season.
Since then, Zach Cipra has taken lead on the program and become the Huskies Head Coach. He is assisted by Zack McCue and Christian Lunsford who are both alumni of the team. The Huskies are now going onto their 9th season as a program and consist of 23 athletes from local gymnastics gyms to Northern Illinois and from accross the country.
Coach Cipra has been the Head Coach of the Huskies for three seasons and in that time has seen the program grow dramatically. Each year the team grows in talent levels to push the bounadries of what they thought were possible as a team. In previous years the team has had several notable achievements such as a 2nd place finish at GymACT Nationals in the small team division (24-25) and Jacob Miller winning the Rob Survick Braveheart Award. The team has also set several team and event records including Jerid Enyard who was an All American on the Pommel Horse at GymACT Nationals (23-24, 24-25), Avery Anderson and Chase Orna who have set several individual records on the Still Rings (25-26), and Ray Molett on the Paralel Bars (24-25). The team has also tied their highest score in program history this season year with a 286.5.
While being successful at athletics is important, Coach Cipra strongly feels that the impact of the team should go much further than just what happens at competitions and at practice. BEcause of this, the program has become much more active in the community over the last several years. The team hosts several competitions including the Huskie Classic and the NIU Invitational to help fundraise for the team and to give young athletes opportunities to compete. The team also opens their facility open to the public during regular season dual meets to give the community and young athletes an opportunity to come and watch Men’s College Gymnastics. The team has also been assisting coaching at State Clinics and doing setup and teardowns of local competitions to both help fund the program and support the local gymnastics community. The team also hosts an annual golf outing for friends, family, and alumni to get involved with the team as well.
Coach Cipra is very optimistic about the team’s future. The team and the athletes have big goals for themselves and continue to work hard each day in order to achieve those goals. Coach Cipra hopes that being on the team is both a positive and challenging experience for the young men who participate that better prepares them for their lives post college.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
While the Huskies have achieved much in the past few years it has not been without it’s struggles. Being that the program is a college club program and not an NCAA team funding is always a significant issue and is the single largest obstacle to overcome each year. Finances oftentimes is the limiting factor with the number of athletes the team can support, resources the team can provide, and competitions the team can go to each year. Almost all of the money the team needs to operate for travel, equipment, and facility use is raised through the efforts of the team fundraising.
When Coach Zach became Head Coach in 2023 one of the first things he did was redo the money management strategies for the team to make sure the team stayed sustaianable from year to year. Him and other leaders on the team also worked to diversify the fundraising efforts of the team to support the program and make sure that it could maintain itself through lean times. The goal was to create systems that would keep the team running for the next 20 years while also reducing the strain on the athletes on the team so that they can keep their main priority which is academics.
There has also been challenge from the league that the team is part of. The NIU Men’s Gymnastics program is part of GymACT which consists currently of 15 other teams. Some of these teams are school affiliated club programs like NIU while others are geographic area based teams not tied to a school. In the time that NIU has been part of GymACT the league has almost doubled in the number of athletes and teams. In the previous competition year there were over 300 athletes who participated in the 16 teams within GymACT. With more teams and more athletes the skill level has gone up considerably as well and the Huskies have had to work hard to defend their position and to earn top spots at competitions. This adversity has been good for the team and has pushed the program to higher standards of excellence. The team has become more organized in the gym and trains harder than in previous years including adding more training hours and having in more coaches to help with the training curriculum.
The team has been recruiting higher level athetes to stay competitive as well. Many of the recruits the team looks at are also looking at NCAA teams or have some form of Junior Elite or National Team experience. The success of this recruiting also comes down to how attractive the program is and the quality of the experience it can provide for the athletes on the team.
There is not a very well established fan base or support network for the team. NIU is a young team compared to college club teams such as Temple University, University of Minnesota, and University of Iowa which have established alumni support channels and over 100 years of culture. The team is not well known and has had to work hard to get their name out to the gymnastics community. This can be exciting at times the program can be a blank slate for new ideas but can oftentimes be overwhelming in deciding on direction without the depth of experience.
Currently, the teams main focus has been on the athletics of the team and promoting a winning athletic culture, high standards of excellence, and strong work ethics. In the past two years the team has missed their team goal of qualifying to Nationals by very slight margins. In GymACT, all teams are represented at National Championships with the top 8 programs in the league competing as large teams (5 athletes with 4 counting scores per event) for the National Championship title while the rest competing as small teams (3 athletes with 3 counting scores per event) for the Comissioner Cup title. Qualification is determined by earning a top 4 placement at either Eastern or Western Conference Championships. In 24-25 and in 25-26 NIU missed qualification by one team placement.
With the failures and adversity that the team has experienced it would be easy to give up or become complacent but instead the team has been using the exeriences to learn from their mistakes and rise to the increased challenge. It has made the team hungrier than ever before and can be seen each day in the gym at practices. The main goal of the 26-27 season is to earn a top 8 finish and qualify to the National Championships and athletes work hard every day in order to make that goal a reality.
Coach Cipra stresses the life lessons that are learned from gymnastics and being on the team. Failure and challenge are not always bad and can be used to refine athletes to be better versions of themselves. Coach Cipra hopes that the challenge of working towards shared team goals would help athletes learn life lessons such as determination, discipline, the value of hard work, and owning your situation that ultimately will set them up to be successful in their futures.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
The NIU Men’s Gymnastics program does not have any full time staff. Up until recently, almost all of the work done by the coaches was 100% volunteer. All of the coaches (Coach Cipra, Coach McCue, and Coach Lunsford) have their own full time jobs in order to support themselves and then in addition give over 20 hours a week towards running practices each day, attending comitte meetings, recruiting, fundraising, managing athletes, and traveling to competitions.
Coach Zack McCue is a gymnastics coach at Energym Gymnastics in Sycamore, IL where he primairly coaches the competitive boys program. He also helps run several gymnastics events including the programs own Huskie Classic, NIU Invitational, and assists with the Windy City Invitational which is one of the largest gymnastics competitions in Illinois. Coach McCue also is involved in digital media and works with several businesses on running their social media accounts.
Prior to this, he was an athlete on the team for 4 years, 2 of which he was team captain and president of the team. Coach McCue has had a 12 year athletic career which started at Gymnastics World of Ohio back in 2013. Once he committed to NIU, he helped the Huskies significantly grow the team. He contributed to bringing the Huskies to 3 back to back GymACT National Championships. During his senior year, Zack was nominated for the GymACT N2 award for his leadership skills. Coach McCue graduated from NIU in 2025 with his Bachelor’s degree in Business Operations Management and Information Systems and a minor in Data Analytics.
Returning to Illinois after serving as the assistant coach at Simpson College where he helped lead the team to their most successful season in program history, Coach Christian Lunsford is currently a Teacher’s Assistant at Mundelein High School where he also coaches the girls high school program. While with NIU Christian has helped lead the Huskies to two GymACT National Championship appearances and NIU’s first individual medalist in 2024. Christian’s gymnastics background includes a sixteen year competitive career through the club, high school, and collegiate levels. He received many accolades during his high school career, the highest being named as the 2018 Illinois High School Outstanding Senior Gymnast of the Year.
Coach Christian continued to excel in college. While on the NIU Team in 2022, he helped lead them back to the GymACT National Championship. He was also named to the 2022 GymACT All-Academic Team. He has made an impact through his commitment at all levels. Christian assists with both Illinois High School Boys and Girls Gymnastics. He was the Head Boys Coach for 3 years and the Girls Assistant Coach for 5 years at Palatine High School. Under his leadership he has brought athletes and teams to the State Championship every year and was awarded the MSL Head Coach of the Year in 2024 and 2025. Christian has coached numerous All-Academic and All-American athletes. He is also the Vice President of the Illinois High School Gymnastics Coaches Association (IHSGCA), advocating for the continuation and support of Illinois High School Boys Gymnastics. He is also a certified judge. In 2022 he graduated from the University of Iowa with degrees in History and Secondary Social Studies Education as well as an endorsement in ESL from National Louis University.
Coach Zach Cipra is the Recreation Director at Energym Gymnastics in Sycamore IL where he oversees many of the recreation programs and staff who work at the gym. He also is the head coach of the boy’s competitive program at Energym Gymnastics and works closely with Coach McCue in running both programs.
Coach Cipra has a 14 year athletic career which includes club, high school, collegiate, and elite competitions. During his time as an athlete at NIU, he helped the team at three GymACT National Championships and represented the program at US Classic and USAG Nationals with other collegiate and NCAA athletes. He also was presented the N2 award in 2021 for his leadership and teamwork skills. Coach Cipra graduated from NIU in 2018 with his undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering and then in 2022 with his Master’s in Business Administration.
Coach Cipra also is a full time father when not at the gym. Him and his wife recently welcomed a new addition to their family of their firstborn daughter during the beginning of the 2025-2026 season.
Up until very recently, coaching the NIU Men’s Gymnastics program was a 100% volunteer effort. With the increased demands of the team in recent years and the need for more dedicated coaches the program has recently been able to provide a stipend for those who choose to coach the program. The goal is that as the program grows it will be able to support itself by creating stable job positions to help offset the need of the coaches involved to have full time jobs in addition to coaching the team.
The NIU Men’s Gymnastics program is a club program at NIU and therefore the coaches are hired by the club to coach the program instead of being university employees. The athletes and coaches are expected to raise on their own any money that they wish to spend during the year as most club sports receive very little funding from their recreation departments. This is different than the conventional model of how most college NCAA sports operate and means that everyone involved has to work hard for what they have. It is a testament to the character and quality of the athletes and coaches that the program does so well for itself. Everything that the team has they built themselves through hard work.
Coach Cipra often says that this is the type of program where everyone involved needs to champion the roles that they have because there is no other way of us getting across the finish line except with us all doing it together.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
The biggest way that people can get involved with the program is by being fans of the team. Our team really wants to get people excited about Men’s Collegiate Gymnastics. We especially want to inspire the younger generation of junior athletes and give them role models they can look up to. Come watch the competitons and cheer loud for the Huskies while wearing Red & Black. We have a bunch of competetions in Illinois this year and it would be great having filled stands. If you can’t be there in person watch the livestreams and follow us on social media, we put all of our competitions online for everyone to watch regardless of if we are local or not. We also open up lots of our intersquads to the public so people can get excited about the team before season begins.
We also have other ways people can get involved with the team outside of competitions. We have a yearly golf scramble people can play in. We also have a merchandise store so fans of the team can wear team branded apparel at our competitions. We also do several smaller fundraisers including a bowling, pizza, and stuck dismount fundraiser that people can participate in. All of these things make it fun to be a fan of the program and also help us to fund ourselves.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.niumensgymnastics.com/home
- Instagram: @niumensgymnastics
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NIUMensGymnastics/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@niumensgymnastics8748
