Cyclones Take First Place In Tri-Meet

AMES, Iowa - In their second tri-meet of the season, the Iowa State gymnastics team defeated Southeast Missouri and Centenary at Hilton Coliseum Friday night. Iowa State won the meet with a final team score of 195.775, earning their second-highest team score of the season. Southeast Missouri earned a 189.475, good for second place, while Centenary earned a 183.400. ISU improved its record to 6-2 on the season.

Many gymnasts hit their season-high scores. Most notably, junior Haylee Young tied her season-high on the floor, where she impressed the judges and the crowd with a difficult routine, earning a 9.900. The Cyclones earned a first place finish in every event, leading to their first-place finish.

"We're gaining a little bit of momentum each meet," head coach Jay Ronayne said. "We're carrying that in practice and that's a big thing. We were worried that because we had a great meet on Sunday the gymnasts would be complacent. That happens a lot on any sports team. We didn't see that in practice, they weren't letting up. We actually had gymnasts asking to do more. That's why we debuted some new tumbling today on floor. It was a really important step to get to the next level, and the team's really excited to get there."

Balance Beam

The trio of Kelsey Paz, Cassandra Diaz and Haylee Young led Iowa State on the balance beam. The threesome each earned a score of 9.850 on the event. Following closely behind was Sydney Converse with a 9.825. Converse competed for the first time all season after recovering from foot surgery. Rounding out the scoring for the Cyclones on the balance beam was Hilary Green, who scored a 9.800. The Cyclones scored a 49.175 overall on the event.

"It was really awesome," Converse said about hitting her routine. "I really wanted to hit and do what I've been doing in the gym. I did and it felt really good. I feel really confident scoring one of my season-highs from last year in my first meet back. I really think that coming back from my injury made me a stronger gymnast."

Vault

The Cyclones earned a 48.600 on vault. Young led the Cyclones with a score of 9.800. Meaghan Sievers followed closely behind Young with a score of 9.750. Junior Courtney Middlekoop came after Sievers in the standings with a score of 9.700. Kelly Martin and Paz rounded out the scoring for the Cyclones, with both earning a score of 9.675 on vault.

"We had a couple really good vaults," Ronayne admitted. "You put six up, five of those scores count. We want five amazing scores. We still have to stick some more landings to meet that goal. We're close, we need to keep working on it in the gym and chasing it in competition. We will get there."

Uneven Bars

Green led the Cyclones on bars, tying her season-high with a score of 9.850. Sievers was close behind with a score of 9.825. Paz and Young followed Sievers, both earning a score of 9.775. Rounding out the scoring for the Cyclones by earning a 9.700 was MJ Johnson, bringing the team score to a 48.925. Missing from the scoring on uneven bars after her season high score of 9.900 last Sunday was Ledesma, scoring a 9.600.

"I don't think we have performed up to the ability of each individual gymnast," assistant coach Nilson Medieros Savage explained. "I think they need to relax a little bit more and be more confident about their ability to do what they do in practice. I think today had a lot to do with them being deflated after vault, and that carried onto bars. But they were able to overcome the fact that they were disappointed to pick it up on bars the way that they did."

Floor Exercise

The Cyclones finished the meet strong on the floor, earning a 49.075. Young led the team, tying her season-high with a score of 9.900 while adding difficulty to her routine. Ledesma followed Young's score, earning a 9.850. Paz was not far behind Ledesma, earning a 9.825. Diaz earned a score of 9.775 for the Cyclones.

Middlekoop and Green rounded out the scoring for Iowa State, both earning a 9.725.

"It was super exciting," said Young about competing a full-in for the first time. "I've wanted to do that since I was 12. I would always train it but never compete it. This week I asked Katie if I could try it. I tried it yesterday and it was actually really good so what I competed today was actually only my fifth time practicing it in my routine."

All-Around

Juniors Young and Paz both competed in the all-around for the Cyclones. Young finished the meet in first place, with a score of 39.325. Paz finished second with her career-high score of 39.125.

Up Next

The Cyclones will travel to the University of Missouri next Friday, Feb. 10, to compete in a quad meet with Lindewood, George Washington and hosts Missouri. The meet will be in the Hearnes Center at 7 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Sydney Converse

Hilary Green

Kelly Martin

Kelsey Paz

Meaghan Sievers

Haylee Young

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics