Cyclones Earn Season-High Vault Score In Tri-Meet

MORGANTOWN, West Virginia - The No. 24 Iowa State gymnastics took second place at the Wendy M. Roach Invitational on Sunday afternoon at West Virginia. The Cyclones finished the meet on vault to earn their season-high on the event and push past Maryland after trailing for the first three rotations. Meaghan Sievers tied her career-high on the apparatus from last season with a 9.925 to help bring in the team's season-high 49.100 on vault. The effort helped the Cyclones to their meet score of 195.725, defeating Maryland who scored a 195.450 and coming in behind West Virginia, who scored a 195.950. Iowa State is now 11-4 on the season.

"I'm really encouraged by the way we gathered ourselves on the last two events," head coach Jay Ronayne said. "I'm very proud of a team that can finish the meet. I talked to the team about how we need to start the meet strong. That will be the mission for the next couple meets."

Vault
2016 NCAA Championship qualifier Meaghan Sievers tied her career-high vault score with a 9.925 to help the Cyclones to their top vault score of the season at 49.100 and give Sievers first place at the meet. Coming in with the next-highest score of the meet was Haylee Young, who tied her season-high on the event with a 9.850. Kelsey Paz also tied her season-high with a 9.825. Two Cyclones earned 9.750's to round out the scoring, with Kelly Martin and Briana Ledesma earning the score.

"I've been waiting for a year to hit that vault," Sievers stated. "It wasn't a stick, so I still have room to improve. It's awesome showing progress and hopefully keep it going for the rest of the season."

Floor Exercise
Iowa State earned their second highest score of the afternoon on floor with a 49.050. Young led the team on the event with a 9.875, earning herself second place at the meet. Ledesma and Paz both scored 9.825 to come in with the second and third highest scores. Hilary Green earned herself a 9.800 with her routine, followed by Courtney Middelkoop who earned a 9.725.

"I thought after two events that weren't our best we had some good floor routines," associate head coach Katie Minasola noted. "We had some good landings. We threw Meaghan (Sievers) in there for the first time, and she did a good job. That was exciting, and brought some energy to the team and brought out some really good routines."

Balance Beam
Paz led the Cyclones on balance beam, hitting a strong routine with a stuck dismount for a 9.825. Right behind was her fellow junior all-arounder Young, who earned a 9.800. Madeline Johnson and Molly Russ brought in the next two scores with a 9.750 and 9.700, respectively. Sievers rounded out the scoring for Iowa State with a 9.675 to help Iowa State garner a team score of 48.750.

"It wasn't our best performance," Paz said. "We haven't hit our best yet. We're still second-guessing some of our landings. I thought Haylee (Young) did a great job ending after a few rough routines. We're fighting and that's what this team does best."

Uneven Bars
The Cyclones started the meet out on the uneven bars, hitting all their routines for a 48.825. Green led the pack with a 9.825 to tie for second place at the meet, followed closely by Young who earned a 9.800. Ledesma performed a strong routine to earn a 9.750 from the judges and bring in the third-highest score for ISU. Two Cyclones scored 9.725 to round out the scoring on uneven bars, Sievers and Johnson both earning the score.

"Starting out on bars was tough," Ronayne said. "They pulled it back together after a shaky start."

All-Around
For the first time this season, the Cyclones competed three gymnasts as all-arounders. Young took second place at the meet with a 39.275, but the real standout of the meet was Sievers who competed all-around for the first time this season. Both Sievers and Paz earned 39.025 for their all-around scores.

Up Next
The Cyclones will continue on the road, traveling to Iowa City to face in-stat rivals, the Iowa Hawkeyes in the annual Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series. The meet will take place Saturday at 11:00 a.m. and will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.

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Players Mentioned

Hilary Green

Madeline Johnson

Briana Ledesma

Kelly Martin

Courtney Middelkoop

Kelsey Paz

Molly Russ

Meaghan Sievers

Haylee Young

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics