The Cyclones’ bid for the NCAA Championships ended Saturday in Los Angeles when they placed fourth out of six at the Western Regional competition.

UCLA (197.825), Arkansas (196.675) and Arizona (195.100) placed before Iowa State (194.325), while Arizona State (193.900) and BYU (193.400) finished in fifth and sixth place.

The Cyclones started the meet out on vault, which has consistently been their weakest rotation this season, because of injuries.

During pre-season, previous Big 12 vault champion senior Megan Barnes injured her PCL and was only able to compete in the last several meets of the season. Saturday was her first foray of the season back on vault.

The vault rotation didn’t go according to the team’s plan, however, as three gymnasts made mistakes, and the team was forced to count two low scores — 9.400 and 9.200. Barnes had the lowest score, with a 9.175, and it was dropped from the team’s rotation score.

“We had a few mistakes that led to other mistakes,” said sophomore Michelle Browning. “Vault is one of our weaker events, but it was still a rough start.”

Senior Ashley Kent said that after starting the meet with the disappointing score of 47.725 on the vault, the team gathered and decided that it had two options.

“We could either say the meet was over and give up, or we could fight,” Kent said. “So we came right back on bars. On beam, we all stayed on, and, during floor [exercise], we just rocked out.”

After the Cyclones decided to fight, they came back with three rotation scores that were all almost a full point higher than their vault score. Their comeback effort was not enough to place them in the top two, however, which would have advanced the team to the National Championships.

“I felt like we started off poorly, and we were able to pull together a great second rotation on bars,” said coach Jay Ronayne in a press release. “Going into the last two rotations for us, we made it clear to the team that we had nothing to hold back, and they let it all fly on the last two events, especially floor. I felt like we were in fifth or sixth place, going into floor, and I was incredibly proud of the team, to fight to pull themselves into fourth.”

Even though the Cyclones didn’t advance to the National Championships, they will be sending Browning to the competition in Gainesville, Fla. on April 22-24 to compete on her own in the all-around.

In order to qualify for the National Championship all-around competition as a member of a team that did not qualify, a gymnast must score in the top two at the regional competition after the all-around competitors that are in the two qualifying teams.

Browning placed sixth in the all-around at the regional competition, with a score of 39.150, however, the five gymnasts ahead of her were from UCLA and Arkansas. Both of the teams qualified for team spots in Florida and, once their scores were removed, Browning had the first of two qualifying spots for members of non-qualifying teams. Browning is the first Cyclone to earn a place at the NCAA Championships since All-American honoree Janet Anson in 2007.

“I can’t put into words how excited I am that Michelle is going to nationals,” Ronayne said. “I’ve been telling her that she has the potential to be one of the best in the country since I was recruiting her. This is another step toward proving that to her.”

Browning will not only compete in the all-around at the NCAA Championships, but she will also be attempting for an NCAA title on bars, beam, vault and floor exercise.

“We’re so excited [for her],” Kent said. “It’s such a good thing for our team, in general. If we can’t all go, it’s good to have one person be able to and get that experience and bring it back to the team next year. She really deserves this.”