CYber CYd with Ashley Kent

This week in CYber CYd senior Ashley Kent makes her second entry for the gymnastics squad. Kent gives a look into the progress of individuals on the team, family weekend, a motivational speaker and much more. Next Thursday, Megan Barnes will provide another edition of CYber CYd.

CYber CYd with Ashley Kent

Hello everyone!

It's been a while since my last entry and a lot has been going on. In the last five weeks things have really been coming together in the gym.

Alex Grant and Jacquelyn Holmes have improved leaps and bounds since being released from the doctor after their season-ending injuries last year. I can already see that they are going to make a huge impact in our line-ups this year! We are starting to put routines together and each week we are getting more and more people up into competition positions. I am so excited to see the progress we have made and are continuing to make. Our first intrasquad meet is also coming up at the end of October. I can't wait to see how much farther ahead we will be this year than last.

This past weekend was family weekend and it was so nice to have several of the parents visit. Jasmine T, Jasmine S, Nikki, Megan and Celine all had relatives visiting and it was great to see some of them in the gym to watch us practice. It is really motivating to see others who support and care about what we are doing as a team. We also had recruits come in and visit which was fun because they are going to be carrying on the tradition of Iowa State gymnastics.

Last night we were fortunate to have a speaker come in and talk to us about leadership and our role as student-athletes. Elaine Penn, who was also a collegiate athlete in the 1980's, gave a wonderful speech about the roles we take on as athletes and the ways in which to "visualize a belief.” We talked about our goals as a team and the biggest part of being a teammate is to never give up. This meant so much to me because our team has definitely not given up on our gymnastics and most of all we have not given up on each other.

I am so lucky to have every one of these girls in my life. As the season seems to be approaching faster and faster every week, I look forward to January, 9, the day of our first meet (at home against Missouri), when we can show you how hard we've been working!

GO CYCLONES!!
Ashley Kent

Players Mentioned

Megan Barnes

Megan Barnes

Jacquelyn Holmes

Jacquelyn Holmes

Ashley Kent

Ashley Kent

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics