Cyclones Score 194.325 In First Away Meet

TUCSON, Arizona - Despite posting a season-high team score of 194.325, the Iowa State gymnastics team took their first loss of the season at Arizona on Saturday. The host Wildcats won the dual with their season-high score of 195.850 to drop ISU to 3-1 on the season. Their first experience in 2017 in a new venue coupled with a slow start on the uneven bars contributed to the Cyclones loss. Highlights included a season-high event score on floor with a 48.875, and a strong showing on balance beam.

"Obviously it wasn't our best meet," head coach Jay Ronayne admitted. "I like the way we came back after a rough start. It shows that we're growing. I expect we'll work this out over the next few weeks."

Floor Exercise
The Cyclones earned their highest event score this season on floor with a 48.875. Iowa State couldn't have earned the score without the impressive performance by Haylee Young, who earned the highest score of the night with a 9.900, her highest score on the event this season. Also earning her highest score of the season was junior Hilary Green, who recorded a 9.825 on the event. Three more juniors contributed to the team score, Kelsey Paz with a 9.775, Courtney Middelkoop with a 9.725, and Briana Ledesma with a 9.650.

"I think we improved tremendously as a floor team," Young said. "I think it will improve our confidence next week. We've been a little nervous on floor based off of our first two meets. It's normally our best event and I think we're on our way back to that."

Balance Beam
Young came back from an uncharacteristic fall on balanced beam last week to lead the Cyclones on the event, earning herself a 9.825. Freshman Molly Russ tied her own career-high with a 9.775. MJ Johnson came out strong in her first appearance on the event this season earning a career-high 9.725. Paz also brought in a 9.725 for the Cyclones. Meaghan Sievers contributed a 9.575 on the event to bring the team's event score to a 48.625.

"I was really pleased with the way we finished the meet," associate head coach Katie Minasola said. "Our first two events didn't go as planned, but the last two were much better. We still need to improve, but ending on beam in the last two years has been a challenge for us. So I'm really proud of our gymnasts for finishing strong. We just have to handle adversity a little better. When we're able to string a whole meet together everyone better watch out.

Vault
Leading the Cyclones on vault was the returning NCAA Championship qualifier, Sievers. The sophomore hit a strong vault against Arizona to earn a 9.825 from the judges and take first place on the event. Bringing in the next highest score, Young earned a 9.775 to tie for second place. Kelsey Paz and Kelly Martin both competed for ISU, earning a 9.700 and 9.625, respectively. In her first appearance on vault this season, Courtney Middelkoop recorded a 9.600 on the event to help bring the team score to a 48.525.

"I think we did a decent job adjusting," Sievers explained. "It was really different being in a different place. I think we did pretty well, and it's a good place to continue improving throughout the season."

Uneven Bars
The Cyclones struggled to get started in their first event of the night, earning a 48.300 on the uneven bars. Young and Sievers stayed strong for ISU, both hitting strong routines and earning 9.850s to tie for third place at the meet. MJ Johnson earned the next highest score on the event with a 9.675. Also contributing to the team score were Kelsey Paz, who earned a 9.500, and Laura Burns, who earned a 9.425.

"It was a highly uncharacteristic day," Ronayne commented. "I'm going to chalk it up to an experience we never want to live through again. Essentially we lost a point on that first event, which was insurmountable. We have to look our best on the first event, just like we did on the rest. It's something that we're going to learn from."

All-Around
Both Young and Paz competed all-around for ISU at Saturday's meet. With Arizona not having any gymnasts go on all four events, the juniors got the top-two spots, earning a 39.350 and 38.700, respectively.

Up Next
The Cyclones will be returning home for their second Beauty and the Beast competition of 2017. Iowa State gymnastics and wrestling will be taking on Oklahoma at 6:30 p.m. on Friday in Hilton Coliseum. The gymnastics team will then take off for their second meet of the weekend, competing at Texas Women's University next Sunday, Jan. 29, at 1 p.m.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Laura Burns

Hilary Green

Briana Ledesma

Kelly Martin

Courtney Middelkoop

Kelsey Paz

Molly Russ

Meaghan Sievers

Haylee Young

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics