No. 18 Cyclones Earn Highest Score In Ronayne Era

GAINESVILLE, Florida – The No. 18 Iowa State Cyclones (4-5, 1-2 Big 12) earn the best score in head coach Jay Ronayne's tenure with a 196.800, but ultimately fell to the No. 2 Florida Gators (197.875) and No. 4 Denver Pioneers (197.250). The Cyclones evening was led by a historic performance on bars with Natalia Ros Vaquer, matching the school record of 9.950.

For the second meet this season, two Cyclones earned 9.950s. Andrea Maldonado brought the first highlight of the night with her second-career 9.950 on floor. On bars, the Cyclones were led by a school-record 9.950 from Ros Vaquer. The bars record pushed the Cyclones to a 49.375, which is tied for fifth in school history, and is the highest bars score by a Ronayne-led Iowa State team.

"It was a fun atmosphere," Ronayne noted. "The team was ready to perform tonight. They got off the bus all ready to get the job done. I think they had a sour taste in their mouth from Oklahoma with a little bit to prove and they stood up to the challenge today. I was very pleased with the poise that they showed."

Uneven Bars
The Cyclones earned a 49.375 on bars, led by top performances from Natalia Ros Vaquer and Jade Vella-Wright. The scores marks the second-consecutive score above 49.300, the first time since 2004 when Iowa State had four-straight meets at or above 49.3. Ros Vaquer's 9.950 matched the school record for the 14th time and she becomes the sixth Cyclone to do so. Jade Vella-Wright scored a 9.900 for the third-straight meet, just the second Iowa State freshman to go 9.900 or higher in three straight meets (Erin Dethloff, 2003). Laura Burns tallied a 9.875 and Madelyn Langkamp matched her career-high 9.850. Casandra Diaz was the final scorer for the Cyclones at a 9.800.

Junior Natalia Ros Vaquer
"It felt so good. Before the competition, even though we had trouble getting here, I had pretty a pretty good feeling. This crowd helps a lot to show that the Cyclones are here and for us to show the best of us. We had confidence."

Assistant Coach Nilson Medeiros
"We have been so close the last three meets and this time we put the nail in the coffin. We left the best for last on uneven bars where we performed what we train every day in the gym. We found out about our team tonight with everything going against us before we got to Gainesville, because this team came out to fight tonight in Florida."

Floor Exercise
Andrea Maldonado led the floor team with her second 9.950 this season on floor, the team scoring a 49.225 on the apparatus. She is the first Cyclone since seven-time All-American Erin Dethloff in 2004 to have two 9.950s on floor in the same season. Sydney Converse remained solid with a 9.850 and Laura Cooke posted a 9.825 in her second-career floor routine. The Cyclones also got 9.800s from Casandra Diaz and Maddie Diab.

Junior Andrea Maldonado
"When I was doing vault, I remember looking at my dad and blowing a kiss. Tonight I knew I could do this and I wanted to make my family proud. None of them have had the opportunity to see me in a long time and most them have never seen me compete, so it was very exciting to be with this team. I think we came through with so much grace. After all my experiences in gymnastics, this is the best one because I get to enjoy everything with [Alondra] and see her grow."

Balance Beam
The Cyclones earned their season-high score with a 49.200 on beam. Sydney Converse anchored with her fourth 9.875 of 2020, while the remaining members of the team had three career-best performances. Meixi Semple tallied a 9.875 and 9.850s from Sophia Steinmeyer and Ana Palacios were the other career highs. Phoebe Turner rounded out the scorers with a 9.750.

Sophomore Meixi Semple
"We love the high energy, but when I was performing and doing what I needed to do, I really focused in the zone. We came back [from Oklahoma] stronger than ever. We are a team and we have each other's backs no matter what.

Assistant Coach Kristin White
"I am really proud of them. Starting on beam is something that we have not done this year and something we don't do very often. For them to come out and go 49.200 on beam, I am proud of the determination they had to go out there and be aggressive to start this meet off."

Vault
Led by a pair of newcomers, the Cyclones scored a 49.000 on vault. Makayla Maxwell performed well with a 9.850, and Andrea Maldonado joined the vault lineup with a 9.850 in her first-ever collegiate vault. Sophia Steinmeyer earned a 9.825, followed by a 9.750 from Sydney Converse and 9.725s from Phoebe Turner and Kelsey Boychuk.

Freshman Makayla Maxwell
"I was really nervous that we were going to be frazzled with yesterday's travels, but for us to come out and do what we did makes me really proud. We deserved to be here and we are pushing to make that known and for Iowa State to be known."

Up Next
The Cyclones will be in St. Charles, Missouri for the GymQuarters Invitational next Friday. That meet is scheduled for 7 p.m. featuring Iowa State, LSU, Missouri and Lindenwood.

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Players Mentioned

Kelsey Boychuk

Laura Burns

Sydney Converse

Laura Cooke

Maddie Diab

Casandra Diaz

Madelyn Langkamp

Andrea Maldonado

Makayla Maxwell

Ana Palacios

Natalia Ros Vaquer

Meixi Semple

Sophia Steinmeyer

Phoebe Turner

Jade Vella-Wright

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