CYber CYd with Michelle Browning

Freshman Michelle Browning writes for CYber CYd this week. The Houston, Texas, native gives an inside look into the impact seniors Jasmine Thompson and Jennifer Salfen have had on her and the team. Browning also talks about a recent visit to an Iowa State fraternity the Cyclone gymnasts made. Check back next week when Ashley Kent returns to write the latest CYber CYd.

CYber CYd with Michelle Browning

Hey Cyclone fans.

It's been such an exciting season so far and the excitement only grows as we head into our Big 12 conference meet and the championship meets. However, before we look to those weeks ahead, we have our last dual meet of the year against West Virginia Friday. Not only is it our last regular season meet, but it's also Senior Night, a chance to recognize all Jasmine (Thompson) and Jenn (Salfen) have meant to Cyclone gymnastics over their last four years at ISU.

Both Jasmine and Jennifer are such a huge part of our team. I remember watching Jaz when I was being recruited to Iowa State and being so impressed with her gorgeous gymnastics and crowd appeal. Now that I'm on the team, I realize that she brings a whole lot more to the table than high scores. She is an incredible leader and has such a fun personality. It's hard to picture bus trips, treatments in the training room and hanging out with the team without her there randomly singing or breaking out into dance. Jaz is a ton of fun and we'll miss her in a lot of ways. Jenn will be missed just as much. I can't believe how much she's taught me in my one year at Iowa State. Besides relying on her to offer advice or get us to laugh on a rough day, we depend on Jenn as a consistent competitor in the vault lineup and her senior leadership has been an important tool in building our program. It's bittersweet because we are excited to see the success that lies ahead for both Jazzy and Jenn, but it's really hard to imagine that these are our last few months together. It'll definitely be an emotional night, and we're ready to put everything out there against the Mountaineers.

Outside of competing and traveling everyone has been really busy, so it's always nice when we have a chance to do something different during the week. This past week Iowa State's Farmhouse Fraternity hosted our team for dinner. Several of the Farmhouse guys come to our meets and are an awesome cheering section. At dinner, they were all gentlemen and served us a delicious meal at their fraternity house. Afterwards they even sang to us. We all had a great time and are excited to see them in the stands this weekend.

Hope to see you there too. Go State!
Michelle

Players Mentioned

Michelle Browning

Michelle Browning

Ashley Kent

Ashley Kent

Ashley Kent

Jennifer Salfen

Jennifer Salfen

Jasmine Thompson

Jasmine Thompson

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics