After losing its opener last weekend, the ISU gymnastics team has put its focus on practice this week not on beating Nebraska, but on perfecting its routine.

“We joke about it in practice all the time,” said head coach Jay Ronayne. “It’s called a routine because it is routine.”

The Cyclones (0-1) hope the routine pays off against No. 16 Nebraska (0-1) on Friday night in Hilton Coliseum. Iowa State lost to No. 19 Missouri last Friday, 195.050-193.175.

“After the meet I was pretty upset,” Ronayne said. “I was encouraged that we were able to come back in the second two events and get it going and score very well.”

Nebraska also has a 0-1 record for the season. They lost to Denver on Saturday with a 194.125-194.350 finish.

Junior Kylie Stone won the all-around for Nebraska with a 38.975.

The Cyclones have been working hard in practice to get ready to face Nebraska. They have been working on their routines and trying to do the same thing the same way every time.

“It’s kind of a race — we start the beginning of the season hoping for a high score and it’s a race to see who gets to the end of the season with the most high scores because that is what qualifies you for regionals and ultimately nationals,” Ronayne said.

In practice this week the Cyclones have also been working on improving on vault and uneven bars. Iowa State had a score of 47.800 on the vault and 47.825 on the bars last weekend, losing to the Tigers in both areas. “We go out with a planned routine and we need to make sure we execute all the skills we plan on doing. Don’t fall. ‘Stay on the equipment’ is the name of the game, and if you fall you’re out of the running for winning,” Ronayne said.

Building of the last weekend’s meet the Cyclones hope to see all the gymnasts do very well, but Ronayne said he had high hopes for Megan Barnes, Jasmine Thompson and freshman Michelle Browning.

Barnes led Iowa State for all-around, scoring a 38.975 against Missouri last weekend.

With it still being early in the season, the Cyclones are not sure what their strengths and weaknesses are, but in practice the Cyclones are working on every event trying to hit their routines.

“A week ago I said our weaknesses were on beam and floor, but last Friday we went out with those as our strongest. In practice we’re pretty even everywhere. It remains to be seen what will happen in competition,” Ronayne said.