The ISU gymnastics team faced several challenges Friday during and after the quad-meet at Pittsburgh. The team finished second to Pittsburgh 195.175-195.125, and topped Rutgers (189.300) and SUNY-Brockport (188.350).

The team started out with 48.550 on floor exercise, a lower than normal score compared to last week’s season-high 49.175. The floor is usually the easiest rotation to register a strong score.

“We started off the first routine with a fall, so we kind of had a rough start,” said senior Ceilia Maccani. “The rest of the lineup, it wasn’t that it wasn’t good, but it wasn’t what we’d been practicing, so we had to play catch-up the entire meet.”

The Cyclones (4-4) improved during the next rotation on vault with a season-high 49.000. Senior Jody McKellar was hurt during this rotation and was out for the rest of the meet. McKellar, who competes in the all-around, said she landed with her heels first.

“She kicked out early and was trying to make a correction,” Maccani said. “She landed short and jarred her ankle.”

After the vault, sophomore Celine Paulus stepped in for McKellar on uneven bars, where the team tallied a 48.525, which was also slightly lower than usual. Senior Anna Robey took over for McKellar on beam, where the team finished with a strong 49.050.

After a weak start on the floor and losing McKellar on the vault, the Cyclones had to deal with situations out of the ordinary.

“We had two really good events,” Maccani said. “Vault and beam were very good, but bars and floor weren’t our normal, so we had some good and some bad.”

After her injury on the vault, McKellar said she would not be competing in the all-around at the next meet.

“[My ankle] is still pretty swollen and bruised,” McKellar said Sunday . “I’ll probably be doing bars, and, hopefully, I’ll be back for the Iowa meet.”

Following the meet, the Cyclones spent the night on their bus. They were unable to reach their hotel until 7:30 a.m. Saturday due to the massive snowstorm on the East Coast.

The team was supposed to fly out of Pittsburgh on Saturday but was trapped in Pennsylvania until Sunday night due to the weather.

Even with the delay, the team will be able to have three normal practices before the next meet.

“Usually we have Tuesday off and practice Sunday, Monday and Wednesday, and then travel Thursday,” McKellar said. “So now we will just practice Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.”

The Cyclones will be away again Friday, when they head to Oklahoma to face the Sooners.