The ISU gymnastics team was supposed to finish in last place at the Big 12 Championships, but the Cyclones decided to rewrite the script.

Iowa State came out of nowhere to wrap up second place and finished just 0.1 points behind champion Oklahoma on Saturday.

“Our game plan was to focus on ourselves, and we stayed real loose the whole meet,” said coach Jay Ronayne. “No one was expecting anything from us, and we competed like we had nothing to lose and everything to win.”

The Cyclones saved their best performance of the year for the biggest meet. Their season-high score of 195.775 was 0.6 points higher than their previous best score.

“Everyone did their jobs tonight, and we made the changes that we’ve practiced,” said gymnast Megan Barnes. “It felt great – it’s what we’ve been looking to do all year, so for it to happen in our biggest meet is great.”

Barnes put up the Cyclones’ second 9.900 of the season on vault.

Ronayne said the extra practice sticking landings this week really paid off.

The Cyclones headed into the final rotation with a slim lead over Oklahoma. ISU rose to the occasion and put up a season-high score of 49.075 on bars, but the Sooners put up an outstanding score of 49.275 on vault to narrowly win, 195.875-195.775.

Missouri finished in third place with 195.225 points, and Nebraska finished in fourth with a score of 194.975. Missouri’s Adrianne Perry won the all-around competition with a score of 39.375.

But the Cyclones were, overall, content with their second-place performance.

“It was very exciting. We were the underdogs, and nobody thought we would do much, but we showed people what we can do and that we are a good team,” said Cyclone Ceilia Maccani.

Iowa State’s top performer was Jasmine Thompson, who won third place in the all-around competition with a 39.275. Thompson scored 9.800 or higher on all four events en route to her season-high all-around score.

Thompson said she was proud of the way she performed but was much more excited with how the team came out and rose to the occasion.

Along with the season-high score on bars, the Cyclones also posted a season-high score on the vault, a 49.050.

“We were the loudest and most excited team there, and all of the excitement showed in our scores,” Thompson said.

Iowa State hopes to prove that Saturday wasn’t a fluke in the NCAA Regional Championship on April 12th.

“We’re on a huge high right now, but we need to build on this for regionals,” Ronayne said.

The location for the NCAA Regional Championship will be announced early this week, and if the Cyclones can finish in the top two they will qualify for the NCAA Championship.