Completed Event: Gymnastics at #10 Iowa (Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series) on January 10, 2026 , Loss , 193.425, to, 196.000
Final
Gymnastics
193.425
#10 Iowa (Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series)
196.000
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Iowa State University Athletics
Freshman Feature: Maya Ford
11.25.2019 | Gymnastics
AMES, Iowa – Maya Ford has been dedicated to gymnastics for most of her life. Her road from Seattle to Ames is not the most conventional, but through many trials, Ford is ready to represent the Cardinal and Gold.
Ford knew she wanted to compete at the collegiate level. She trained with this purpose in mind, but a foot injury sidelined her in her junior year of high school. The significant loss of training and competition led her to make a difficult decision: she would take a gap year between high school and college to train.
"My junior year of high school I tore my Achilles," Ford stated. "I decided to take a gap year to train and hopefully get on a college team. I knew I wanted to do college gymnastics."
During her gap year, Ford traveled the United States competing in many competitions, collecting numerous top-five finishes. After a number of tests throughout the year, a fifth-place finish at the 2019 Region 2 Championships qualified her for her first-ever Junior Olympic National Championships.
"I was able to focus on gymnastics the entire year," Ford said. "I traveled a lot and made it to Nationals for the first time."
Before she qualified for the 2019 J.O. Nationals, Ford found a home in Ames on her campus visit. She knew she wanted to be a Cyclone.
"I came on my visit back in March, and I fell in love with the campus, the coaches and the girls," Ford commented. "I knew I wanted to come here."
Ford is still adjusting to the new coaching staff, but she noted that the team is pushing her to be her best, working together to achieve their goals. Despite the 1,441 miles between her home town of Issaquah, Washington and Ames, Ford is learning a lot and continuing to prepare for the 2020 season.
"It's definitely a change coming all the way from Seattle," Ford said. "Coming to Iowa is a change; everything is different. I struggled a little bit, but it is coming together and I am glad I am here. I am ready for the season to start."
The Cyclones open the season on the road with a quad-meet at Arizona on Saturday, Jan. 11. You can get your first look at Ford and the other newcomers on Jan. 17 when they are set to battle West Virginia at Hilton Coliseum.
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