The ISU gymnasts are usually focused on their team score, and they often pay little attention to the activities of their competitors. Things are a little different this week as the No. 15 Cyclones head to Iowa to compete in the Cy-Hawk series, where more focus will be on beating their opponents.

“It’s exciting,” senior Melanie Tham said. “It’s also a little bit thrilling because of the big rivalry. I’ve never experienced anything like that before coming here.”

The Cyclones went 0-2 against Iowa last season, and any true Iowa-Stater knows a year is a long time to wait to get a crack at the Hawkeyes again after a loss.

“There’s a little more pressure to win,” Tham said. “We definitely want to put up a high score, and by doing that, that’s when the win comes.”

The team had confidence issues last year that resulted in losses. This was partly due to injuries and partly ill preparedness, and some of the girls let their personal insecurities affect the team.

“It was a disease that spread pretty quickly,” coach Jay Ronayne said. “The cure was finding the confidence, and that spread pretty quickly this year.”

After last year, the team was more motivated to focus instead of scrambling to get ready through mid-season. This was partly due to a pep talk Ronayne gave to some of the team.

“We kind of scared some of the girls who in the past hadn’t worked very hard,” Ronayne said. “We told them ‘This is the real thing. This is division I gymnastics. This is big and if you don’t treat it like that, then there’s no reason for you to be around anymore.’”

The Cyclones worked hard over the summer and went into pre-season ready to practice gymnastics instead of doing conditioning. Now they are riding the high of a good season — a very different story from last year.

“If you watch video from last year compared to this year, you’ll see a dramatic difference just in the way they carry themselves,” Ronayne said. “And I can’t ask for anything better than that.”

With a new season and new confidence, the team heading to Iowa this year is hoping not only to put up a high score as usual, but also to make its school proud.

“Absolutely we want to win,” senior Ashley Kent said. “It’s our in-state rival, and we want to go in there and win for Iowa State. We want to win the Cy-Hawk.”

The Cyclones face the Hawkeyes at 2 p.m. Sunday in Iowa City.