The Cyclones started their pre-season with high hopes.

They put in the hours over the summer to stay strong and they entered the 2009-’10 season with a healthy team and eight strong seniors. 

“Pre-season expectations were really high because we were really stacked,” said coach Jay Ronayne.

“We had a ton of very good athletes who were in very good shape. We had a lot of depth, especially compared to the prior two years where we didn’t have much depth. Everyone in there we knew would be very competitive in the Big 12.”

During pre-season, however, four gymnasts sustained injuries.

Three of those gymnasts were seniors. 

“All of a sudden we had four major injuries that took four competitors straight off the top of our depth chart which changed things dramatically,” Ronayne said.

 “As the season began we were kind of punched in the gut but the team kind of stepped up and did surprisingly well for being in that situation.”

The team persevered throughout the season.

One of the injured seniors, Megan Barnes, was eventually able to compete by the end of the season.

Barnes was never back to full strength, however, and the team was plagued by several other small injuries. 

The Cyclones also lost another senior off of their lineup right around the time Barnes was coming back when Melanie Tham tore her Achilles’ tendon in March. 

“By the end of the season, that lack of depth at the top was becoming apparent,” Ronayne said.

“So we fell short of our season goal of qualifying to the national championship, but it still doesn’t diminish the fact that the team fought tremendously throughout the season, and I cant be displeased with their effort. They worked very, very hard.”

By the end of the season, the team had a record of 9–13 and was 0–6 in Big 12 competition.

The gymnasts finished last at the Big 12 Championship and fourth out of six at the NCAA West Regional competition.

Which was not enough to qualify them for the national championships. 

“It sounds really bad that we didn’t have a win in the Big 12,” Ronayne said,

“But there are only three teams that we compete against. So it sounds like we lost to 11 teams but it’s really only three.

“Those three are really, really good teams and they all three qualified for the national championship. Only 12 teams go to the national championship, so if you look at in that light, we compete against the best, and that’s the beauty of the Big 12.”

The Cyclones had some of their best scores of the season while competing against their Big 12 rivals, which include Oklahoma, Missouri and Nebraska. 

“We didn’t leave any competition against our Big 12 opponents feeling like we just got crushed,” Ronayne said.

“We felt like, ‘Wow, we hung in there with them.’ Imagine if we had our four starters in there — we would have had a chance to beat them.”

Even though the team did not quality for the NCAA National Championships, it will still send one of its sophomores, Michelle Browning, to compete for a national title in the all-around in Gainesville, Fla., on April 22-24. 

“I think she’ll do well,” Ronayne said.

“She has an outside shot of getting an All-American spot. It’s not a shoe-in for sure because she’s up against some big competitors.

“Only 12 individuals qualify in the all-around so she has a one in 12 shot.

“Her gymnastics is clean and as long as she performs cleanly and hits her routines and sticks her landings, she has a shot at making finals in an event and that’ll be pretty cool.” 

The rest of the team will cheer on Browning from Iowa State.

Even though some gymnasts expressed disappointment at not qualifying for nationals, there is still a positive attitude about the rest of the season. 

“Our season has been overall really good,” said senior Ceilia Maccani after the regional competition.

“We’ve been moving up in rankings a lot and this is the highest ranked we’ve been in years. So overall we’re really, really proud of what we’ve done.”

Maccani is one of seven graduating seniors this year.

Since the team has 17 members, the team will be almost halved after graduation.

Ronayne has been recruiting heavily throughout the semester, and he has high expectations for the incoming freshman gymnasts.

“They’re going to have to step up right away,” Ronayne said.

“The freshmen that we had this year slowly eased their way in and we can’t afford that next year. We expect the six athletes we have coming in to be ready right away.”

The six incoming freshmen were described by Ronayne as a mix of three powerful gymnasts and three stylish gymnasts with beautiful form.

“They will balance each other well,” Ronayne said. “As long as they are ready to go and healthy.”