Cyclones Score 195.500 at Big 12 Championship

FRISCO, Texas - The Iowa State gymnastics team competed at the Big 12 Championship on Saturday afternoon in Frisco, Texas. The Cyclones competed against three top-25 teams, No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 7 Denver, and No. 22 West Virginia. The team held their own against the competition, coming in just 0.075 behind West Virginia with a 195.500 to take fourth place at the meet. Oklahoma took first with a 197.850, Denver placed second with 196.475, and West Virginia finished third with 195.575.

"I'm a little bit surprised that we weren't as sharp as we could've been to start with," head coach Jay Ronayne commented. "There were several tiny mistakes that we made that started to add up. Knowing that in two weeks at the NCAA Regionals will be the real test for us, I think we can learn a little bit from our performance overall today."

Vault
Iowa State finished the meet on vault, combining for a team score of 49.050 on the event. Haylee Young tied her season and career-high with a 9.900 to help the Cyclones earn their highest event score of the meet, and tie for second place on vault. Meaghan Sievers also had an excellent vault, earning her a score of 9.850. Kelsey Paz followed close behind Sievers with a 9.825 for the third-best ISU score on vault. Kelly Martin and Sydney Converse finished out the scoring with a 9.750 and 9.725, respectively.

"Hitting that vault was awesome," Young said. "I've been working on absorbing when I land a lot in the gym. To be able to stop when I compete and not just stick it in warm ups felt really good."

Floor Exercise
The Cyclones had a strong showing on floor during the third rotation to rise above West Virginia into third place going into the third rotation. Young performed an incredible routine to earn a 9.875 on the event for Iowa State's best score. Hilary Green and Ledesma brought in the next two highest scores with two 9.775's. Courtney Middelkoop and Paz rounded out the scoring for the Cyclones with a 9.750 each. The ISU gymnasts scores combined for the best event of the night from Iowa State with a 48.925.

"I thought Hilary [Green] started us off with a great routine," associate head coach Katie Minasola said. "She had some good landings, had fun with the crowd, and played her routine. We had a little mishap with Meaghan's [Sievers] middle pass, but I thought they did a great job with their routines. We have to clean up some landings, but overall I thought it was a great floor performance."

Balance Beam
Iowa State competed on balance beam during the second rotation of the meet, combining for a team score of 48.775. Freshman Casandra Diaz led the team on the event for the first time with season, earning a 9.800 at the meet. Converse earned the next highest score for the Cyclones with a 9.775. Paz earned a 9.750 on the event, followed closely by Sievers and young who both recorded 9.725s.

"I felt everyone was calm and relaxed going into beam today," Diaz said of the event. "We weren't as worried about our scores, we just wanted to have fun and prove why we're here and I think that really helped us in competition."

Uneven Bars
The Cyclones started the Big 12 Championships on the uneven bars, earning a team score of 48.750. Young led the team on the event with a 9.800, followed by three ISU gymnasts who scored a 9.750. Green, Ledesma, and Sievers all earned the score to come in right above Paz who scored a 9.700 to round out the scoring on uneven bars.

"We were a little tight starting off," Ronayne admitted. "I think we were able to pull it together. Last week we stuck every landing, we gave away a couple this week. It was a fairly decent start to the competition, but we still have room to improve these next two weeks."

All-Around
Iowa State had three gymnasts competing in the all-around at the Big 12 Championship. Haylee Young earned the highest all-around score for the Cyclones with a 39.300. Kelsey Paz brought in the next-best score with a 38.975, and Meaghan Sievers competed for a 38.975.

Up Next
The Cyclones will be watching the NCAA Gymnastics Selection Show on Monday at 3:00 p.m. to see where they will be competing in this year's Regional competition. Regionals will be held on April 1^st at one of the following sites: University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, University of Florida, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, University of Washington, or West Virginia University.

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Players Mentioned

Sydney Converse

Casandra Diaz

Hilary Green

Kelly Martin

Courtney Middelkoop

Kelsey Paz

Meaghan Sievers

Haylee Young

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