The goal was to get out there, shake off the nerves and put on a show for the crowd at the Cardinal and Gold Intrasquad Scrimmage.

The ISU gymnastics team did just that Tuesday night, Dec. 10, at Hilton Coliseum in its annual preseason meet.

“Overall, I’m very, very happy with what they did,” said ISU coach Jay Ronayne after the meet. “You don’t know what the differences are going to be when [the gymnasts] come back out in public after being in practice for forever, so you never know what’s going to happen. I’m pleased with what they did.”

The intrasquad meet divided the team into two groups, Cardinal and Gold, of five competing gymnasts and pitted one competitor from each team head-to-head. One point was awarded to the winning gymnast’s team.

After all four events and a total of 13 mano-a-mano matchups, the Cardinal squad came out on top by a total of 8-5. Though it was nice for some of the gymnasts to win their matchups, coach Ronayne used the event as a way to measure his team’s overall progress.

“I think we’re on the right track,” Ronayne said. “I feel pretty confident about getting ready for Jan. 5. The scoring was different tonight, but [the coaches] were computing scores in our heads — a lot of 9.7s and 9.8s, but also some unacceptable 9.4s. We know how to fix those things, though, and we can make the right improvements in practice.”

The gymnasts also got to use the meet as a gauge for their growth through the off-season. Senior Henrietta Green noticed the positives in her performances but also noted she has room for improvement.

“I did pretty good, I think,” said Green, who competed on the uneven bars, beam and floor exercises. “I wasn’t quite where I wanted to be or where I was at the end of last season. I don’t think it was nerves, just some one-time mistakes that I don’t usually make in practice.”

Caitlin Brown, on the other hand, did feel some nerves during the first performaces of her junior-year campaign.

“This meet was really good to get out the jitters,” Brown said. “But it was good to get out there and hit four routines to get the ball rolling. Hopefully, I’ll be doing all four events [this season] and if [the team] keeps doing what we’re doing, we’ll be right where we should be.”

Though the meet did not come without its challenges, the ISU gymnastics team got a taste of what its season could hold. With one public showing under their belt, Ronayne thinks the Cyclones have the potential for great success.

“They could’ve gone a different direction,” Ronayne said. “For example, one or two gymnasts had a little difficulty adjusting to these particular bars, but they were able to handle it and figure out a way to adjust.

“That’s something that was really important. … That’s what makes a champion.”