Gymnasts Honored With ISU Awards

AMES, Iowa - The Iowa State gymnastics team held its annual banquet at Hickory Hall Wednesday night as first year head coach Jay Ronayne and his staff honored several student-athletes as the team gathered to celebrate accomplishments of the 2007 season.

To conclude the awards ceremony, the coaching staff honored Janet Anson as the Gymnast of the Year. The award will now be called the Janet Anson ?Key' award, bearing the name of the first recipient under the Ronayne coaching era. Each season a new gymnast who follows in Anson's footsteps as the most valuable gymnast will be honored.

In her senior campaign, Anson was recognized for being the key contributor on all four events to keep the season on track. She finished her career as an eight-time All-American, earning second-team All-America honors on beam at this year's NCAA Championships. Anson finished in the ISU recordbooks holding the top score on vault (10.0 achieved at Nebraska in 2004) and in the top 10 on beam, floor, and the all-around.

Megan Barnes, a Salt Lake City, Utah, native, was named Most Valuable Freshman. Barnes, who recorded a season-high 9.90 on vault three times, left a big mark on her initial collegiate season. She earned four vault titles this season and was named Big 12 Conference Newcomer of the Year.

"Each one of our rookies played a major role in the successes we had this season,” said Ronayne. “One athlete stood out a little bit more due to her amazingly consistent performances, particularly on one event. Megan was ranked nationally on vault all season and was recognized as the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year.”

Sophomore Jennifer Salfen earned the award for the team's most improved gymnast. The Littleton, Colo., native was a new addition to ISU's vault squad at the end of the season. Salfen, a walk-on who redshirted her initial season, recorded a season-high 9.775 vs. Denver and Iowa, competing at the collegiate level for the first time.

"Historically the most improved award goes to the gymnast who has shown some upgrading of a skill or two in the gym,” Ronayne said. “This year Jenn showed marked improvement when she competed for the first time on vault.”

Salfen was an important part of the team and went on to compete several exhibition vaults throughout the season and earned a spot in the lineup at the final home meet of the season.

A new award this year, the “Oscar,” was awarded to senior co-captain Ashley Alden. The Park City, Ill., native was a regular on beam and floor throughout her four years at ISU. She was ranked in the nation's top 11 on beam at the beginning of this season, but was forced to miss six meets due to an ankle injury. She returned to the beam lineup for senior night on March 23, and was able to tie for ninth in her first meet back.

“The ?Oscar' is for the gymnast who puts on the best ?act,' the one who understands that ?the show must go on' even when faced with adversity,” Ronayne said. “Ashley endured much pain and anguish due to her injury. She was able to fight back and put on the ?act' to show the public that nothing was wrong.”

Engraved awards from the Big 12 Conference Championship were presented to Anson, Katie Lasher and Ceilia Maccani for their place finishes at the conference championship back in March. The four ISU seniors, Alden, Anson, Lasher and Jade Kvach, were also honored for their leadership and commitment to the Iowa State gymnastics program.

In addition, the academic achievements of several student-athletes were recognized. This year, five of nine upperclassmen were honored with academic All-Big 12 honors and the team improved its grade-point average from last year, averaging a 3.41 GPA.

For the first time in program history, Iowa State broke into the top ten in average attendance in 2007. An average of 2,463 fans attended every meet in Hilton Coliseum this season, ranking 10th in the country. This year's average is ISU's highest ranking in history and the first time the program has reached above the 2,000 mark. An all-time attendance record was set at the home opener on Jan. 19, with 3,429 fans.

Ranked 14th in the country with a Regional Qualifying Score of 195.855, Iowa State made its 13th consecutive appearance at the NCAA Regionals. The Cyclones scored a 195.925, to tie for second place at the Central Regional in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The 2007 squad boasted two Big 12 Conference Gymnasts of the Week, two Big 12 Event Specialists of the Week, the Big 12 Gymnast of the Year, the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, the American Award winner and one All-American.

The team set new marks in the Iowa State recordbooks on vault and bars. With a score of 49.375, the bars squad tied the fifth highest score in school history and the vault team broke into the top 10 of the vault rankings, tying for ninth (49.350).

Players Mentioned

Ashley Alden

Ashley Alden

Janet Anson

Janet Anson

Megan Barnes

Megan Barnes

Jade Kvach

Jade Kvach

Katie Lasher

Katie Lasher

Ceilia Maccani

Ceilia Maccani

Ceilia Maccani

Jennifer Salfen

Jennifer Salfen

Jennifer Salfen

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