GYMNASTICS: Gophers overtake Cyclones at end
February 8, 2009
The Cyclones stayed close to Minnesota during the meet Saturday night, but lost by a small .550 of a point.
Iowa State lost by a final of 195.775-195.225, dropping it to 0-5. The Cyclones out-scored Minnesota on each event heading into the final round.
“The first three events were very good, we were cruising along doing great. So I’m very happy with the way the first three events went. Going into the last event we had a fall and then two performers later we had another fall, so we had to count those falls, and as I was keeping track of the scores I could see that was the critical point where it meant the win or the loss,” coach Jay Ronayne said.
Minnesota kicked off the night on vault and Iowa State started on bars. Nikki Dilbert tied her career high with a 9.775. The Cyclones were led by senior Jasmine Thompson with a 9.800. Minnesota was led by Carmelina Carabajal with a 9.925. After the first event Iowa State was ahead with a 48.850-48.725 score.
“We went out really strong, really aggressive which is really good — especially at away meets. Personally, I was really happy. I think I had a better bar routine than I’ve had — it was one of my best bar routines of the season,” senior Ashley Kent said.
For the second event the Cyclones and Gophers traded events. The Cyclones were led on the vault by Megan Barnes, who tied her career high with a 9.900. Iowa State ended with a 97.825-97.650 lead.
“It was really exciting for all of us to be able to put together the vaults that we’ve been practicing and that we know we can do. It was the highest score on vault so far so that’s hopefully what we can build on and continue doing for the rest of the season,” freshman Michelle Browning said.
For the third event the Cyclones took the floor and the Gophers moved to beam. Freshmen Celine Paulus and Shea Anderson got their first shots on floor and finished with a 9.700 and a 9.550. Freshman Michelle Browning beat her career high with a 9.900. Thompson also tied her career high with a 9.900. Browning and Thompson were Iowa State’s top scorers. At the end of the third event the score was 146.900-146.700.
“Floor was good. Each performance built on each other, especially toward the end of the line-up. We had a good showing,” Browning said.
To finish off the night Iowa State and Minnesota traded events again. The Cyclones were led by Browning on the beam with a 9.875. Minnesota, however had a score of 49.075 on the floor, while Iowa State only had a 48.325 on the beam propelling the Gophers ahead.
“I think we were really excited going into our last event and it might have got the best of us. We needed to calm down a bit. We ended up counting a fall, so that was difficult. Its something that we’re going to go into the gym and learn from,” Kent said.
Thompson took the all around for Iowa State with a score of 39.225. Jody McKellar and Megan Barnes also placed in the all around. Top all around was Minnesota gymnast Alexis Russell with a 39.375.