Cyclones Earn 195.350 at Big 12 Championship

FRISCO, Texas - The Iowa State gymnastics team competed in the 2016 Big 12 Gymnastics Championship on Saturday in Frisco, Texas. The Cyclones earned their second-highest away meet score with a 195.350, their fourth highest meet score overall this season.

Sophomore Haylee Young, last year's Big 12 All-Around Champion, earned Iowa State's highest score of the night with a 9.900 on floor. Meaghan Sievers was also a significant contributor for the Cyclones, earning the team's highest score on vault and tying with Hilary Green for the highest spot on the uneven bars.

At the end of the meet, Iowa State came in fourth place behind No. 1 Oklahoma (198.050) , No. 10 Denver (196.725), and West Virginia (195.925).

“It was a good fight by everyone out here,” head coach Jay Ronayne said. “There was some great gymnastics and I'm proud of the fight in the team.”

Floor Exercise
The Cyclones finished the meet on their strongest event of the season, the floor exercise. All five of the contributing gymnasts for Iowa State earned a score of 9.800 or above. Haylee Young lead the team with a 9.900, only .025 below her career-high and the team-high score for this season. Sydney Converse brought in the next-best score of the night with a 9.850, followed closely by Kelsey Paz and Briana Ledesma. Sophomores Paz and Ledesma both earned 9.825's. Courtney Middelkoop rounded off the scoring gymnasts with a 9.800, bringing the team score on floor to 49.200.

Assistant coach Kristen Maloney:
“I thought they ended on a really strong and positive note tonight. They all looked really good on floor and I'm very proud of them.”

Vault
Iowa State started off the meet on vault with five gymnasts scoring a 9.725 or above. Meaghan Sievers led the team once again with a 9.850, with Sydney Converse coming with the next highest score, a 9.800. Sara Townsend came in next for the Cyclones with a 9.750. Both Briana Ledesma and Alex Marasco earned a 9.725 to bring the team score to 48.850.

Volunteer coach Danielle Guider:
“Overall, I think that vault went pretty well. We had three stuck landings, one from Alex Marasco, one from Haylee Young, and one from Sydney Converse. Rounding us out for the line-up was Meaghan Sievers and she had a nice vault with a 9.850, so I thought that was great.”

Balance Beam
Alex Marasco brought in the highest score of the night for Iowa State on balance beam with a 9.825. Sydney Converse started the rotation off strong for the Cyclones with the second-highest score on the event, a 9.775. Meaghan Sievers earned the team another nice score with a 9.725, and Kelsey Paz came in right behind her with a 9.700. Sammie Pearsall contributed a 9.650 to bring the team score to 48.675.

Assistant coach Katie Minasola:
“Although we stayed on the beam in all six routines, we didn't get our job done the way we should've. There were a couple highlights: Kelsey Paz coming back into the line-ups and Alex Marasco's routine was really good. But, it wasn't the job we wanted to do.”

Uneven Bars
Meaghan Sievers and Hilary Green led the team on the uneven bars at the Big 12 Championship. Sievers and Green both hit 9.800's to lead the Cyclones. Haylee Young came in with the next highest score with a 9.700, followed closely by Sara Townsend, who earned a 9.675. Briana Ledesma scored a 9.650 to help the team to their event score of 48.625.

Head coach Jay Ronayne:
“They hit routines, that's what we asked them to do. They could've been a little sharper on a couple routines, but I overall I'm proud of them for sticking with it and hitting routines on every event.”

All-Around
Two Cyclone gymnasts competed in the all-around for the Big 12 Championship. Freshman Meaghan Sievers brought in the fourth-highest all-around score at the meet with a 39.100. Haylee Young also competed in all four events, earning a 38.850 for her all-around score.

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Players Mentioned

Sydney Converse

Hilary Green

Briana Ledesma

Alex Marasco

Courtney Middelkoop

Kelsey Paz

Sammie Pearsall

Meaghan Sievers

Sara Townsend

Haylee Young

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