Iowa State University Athletics
Iowa State
Penn State
Iowa State on the Road for Two Meets
01.11.2024 | Gymnastics
Who:Â No. 21Â Iowa State (0-1, 0-0 Big 12) at No. 27Â Penn State (3-0, 0-0 Big Ten)
Where: Rec Hall (6,502) – University Park, Pa.
When: Friday, Jan. 12, 2024 – 5:00 p.m.
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What: Fisk MLK Meet
Who: Iowa State (0-1, 0-0 Big 12) at Fisk, Rutgers, Brown, Talladega, and William & Mary
Where: Memorial Gymnasium (14,316) – Nashville, Tenn.
When: Monday, Jan. 15, 2024 – 3:00 p.m.
Leading Off: Iowa State travels to Penn State for their first road meet of the 2024 season. Friday marks the first time new Head Coach Ashley Miles Greig will see her team compete in a road environment. The Cyclones will then head south to Nashville for the Fisk MLK Meet, held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Iowa State will look to put a dent in the slight all-time advantage Penn State has with a 7-3 record against the Cyclones. The two teams last competed in 2015 where the Nittany Lions were able to take the win.
The Cyclones will then be set to compete against Fisk, Rutgers, Brown, Talladega, and William & Mary in the MLK Meet. This historic meet will unite six African-American women head coaches for a Monday meet.
Storylines:
- Iowa State opened the season against Nebraska with a narrow loss of 195.825-196.125
- ISU's score was the highest season opening score for the Cyclones in 20 years.
- Hannah Loyim helped the Cyclones with her 39.050 all-around score.
- Noelle Adams stood out in her Cyclone debut scoring 9.850 or higher in all her events.
- Adams scored 9.850 (vault), 9.875 (beam), and 9.900 (floor).
- Iowa State got a great showing on bars from senior Laura Cooke with her score of 9.850.
- Senior Lauren Thomas was able to score 9.875 to tie for the top score from the Cyclones on beam.
From the Notes:
- Iowa State got two 9.900 scores to open the 2024 season. The first came from Josie Bergstrom on vault, while the second came from Noelle Adams on the floor.
- Four freshmen competed against Nebraska, Noelle Adams, Ella Schell, and Paige Wills.
- Iowa State saw the beam debuts of four gymnasts in their first meet, Noelle Adams, Madelyn Manternach, Lauren O'Brochta, and Rachel Wilke.
- Iowa State boasts one of the more diverse rosters in the nation with gymnasts hailing from five different countries.
Switching Sides to Penn State:
- Head Coach Sarah Brown is entering her 7th year at the helm of Penn State and holds a record of 46-52.
- Penn State opens the season ranked number 28 in the WCGA poll.
- The Nittany Lions opened the season picked 8th in the Big Ten while also having one gymnast on the Big Ten watch list in freshmen Kale McElligott.
- Penn State competed in the Keystone classic last week where they were able to take home first place. They competed against Penn, Temple, and Pittsburgh.
- Brink brought in three newcomers to pair with the 16 returning gymnasts.
Fisk MLK Meet:
- This historic meet will pin Iowa State against the likes of Fisk, Rutgers, Brown, Talladega, and William & Mary.
- Rutgers opened the season picked 10th in the Big Ten while having two gymnasts selected to the watch list, Elia Aird and Emily Leese.
- The Scarlet Knights opened their season in a quad meet in which they placed 3rd place.
- 2024 marks the inaugural season for Talladega as the will compete at the division two level.
- Fisk will enter this meet fresh off competing against Florida on Jan. 12, and William & Mary will be opening their season as well that day against Clemson.
- The MLK Meet will mark the season opener for Brown.
- Fisk University, home of America's first HBCU gymnastics team, is hosting a joint gymnastics match that will bring the nation's only African American women head coaches together for a Martin Luther King Jr. Day competition.
- The entire field of coaches were once collegiate gymnasts. Sims-Fletcher, like Coach Greig, was a standout gymnast at the University of Alabama. Harris competed at Oregon State, Hinton at NC State and Salim-Beasley at West Virginia. Fisk's Tarver, the organizer of the meet, competed at Georgia and was the first African-American member of the Bulldog gymnastics team where she was a nine-time All-American.
- The meet, celebrating African American inclusion in gymnastics, has been adopted as an official event of Nashville's Martin Luther King, Jr. week of celebration.
Players Mentioned
