Young Earns Spot in NCAA National Championship

LINCOLN, Nebraska - Junior Haylee Young of the Iowa State gymnastics team qualified as an all-around competitor to the NCAA Gymnastics Championship at the NCAA Gymnastics Lincoln Regional on Saturday. Young's 39.175 in the all-around at the competition earned her one of two all-around slots in the National Championship April 14-16 in St. Louis. The Cyclones competed as a team at the NCAA Lincoln Regional, earning a team score of 195.250 to take sixth place at the meet. Top-scoring teams No. 2 LSU (197.450) and No. 14 Nebraska (196.625) both earned berths to the NCAA Gymnastics Championship as team qualifiers. Boise State earned third place at the meet with a 196.150, followed by Minnesota (195.575) and Arizona (195.500).

"I'm very proud of the team for showing their character today," head coach Jay Ronayne said. "To be delt a had where they're a half a point in the hole to start a meet and to fight all the way through five rotations, I'm very proud of them. They easily could have hung their heads and given up, but they didn't.

"I'm very excited for Haylee to do it all again and represent the Cyclones at the National Championship," Ronayne continued. "I'm excited for her to display on a national stage what she's all about."

Uneven Bars
ISU finished the meet with its best score of the day, a 49.025 on the uneven bars. Hilary Green led the team with a strong performance on bars, earning herself a season-high 9.875. Meaghan Sievers brought in the next-best score with a 9.825, followed by fellow sophomore MJ Johnson with a 9.800. Haylee Young brought in the fourth-best score with her 9.775 on the event. Kelsey Paz earned the final contributing score with a 9.750.

"I felt like we put it all out there on bars," Green said. "We're definitely not done yet, it's just a stepping stone for next year. We'll just use it to fuel our fire and come back even better next season."

Floor Exercise
The Cyclones competed on floor in the third rotation of the meet, earning the second-highest floor score of the meet with a 48.975. Young led the team with a 9.900, tying for second at the meet. Courtney Middelkoop earned the next-highest score with a 9.800. Paz reintroduced a double layout for the first pass of her routine, earning herself a 9.775 for her efforts. Ledesma and Sievers rounded out the scoring for Iowa State with two 9.750's on floor.

"I thought coming off beam and having two falls, they finished strong on beam and brought some energy on floor," associate head coach Katie Minasola said. "We had a few mistakes, but they brought a lot of energy and I think they performed well. I thought it was a really good floor rotation."

Vault
Iowa State earned a team score of 48.875 on vault in the fourth rotation of the meet, being led by Sievers with a 9.850. Paz brought in the next-best score with a 9.825 on her vault. Sydney Converse earned herself a 9.775 on the event, followed by Ledesma with a 9.725. Kelly Martin and Young both earned 9.700's to round out the scoring for the Cyclones.

"I think vault went really well for us today," Sievers said. "I had one of my best vaults of the season, so I was really happy to be able to end the season on that."

Balance Beam
The Cyclones got off to a slow start in the competition, scoring a 48.375 on beam in the first rotation. Juniors Young and Green both recorded 9.800's to lead the team on the event, followed closely by Converse and Casandra Diaz, who both scored 9.750's. Two falls to start the rotation caused the Cyclones to count Sievers' 9.275 in the final team score on the event.

All-Around
Young's 39.175 earned her fourth place at the meet and one of two spots at the NCAA Gymnastics Championship as an individual all-around competitor. Sievers and Paz also competed in the all-around competition at the NCAA Lincoln Regional, earning a 38.700 and 38.550, respectively.

"I'm super excited just because of how hard I've worked all year," Young said. "The whole team has worked so hard and I wish more of them were coming with me. I'm honestly not that happy with my performance today, it wasn't my best but I'm glad that I was able to go. All the glory goes to God."

Up Next
Young will compete at the NCAA Gymnastics Championship in St. Louis on Friday, April 14. What session she will compete in and which team she will rotate with will be determined following the conclusion of all regional competition.

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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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