The ISU gymnastics team failed to capture its first win of the season on Sunday, despite another strong showing. The Cyclones fell to No. 11 Stanford, 195.800-194.550.

For the second meet in a row, the Cyclones posted a season-high score, but still lost.

“Wins and losses aren’t as much of a factor to me. I love to win, I hate losing, but scores are really what matters. We have a score that will help our average a bit,” said coach Jay Ronayne.

The score Iowa State reached Sunday would have won its first three meets of the season. The 194.550 the Cyclones posted might land them back in the top 25 when the new week’s rankings are released Monday.

“We have to keep building bigger and bigger scores,” Ronayne said. “That’s only going to come from hard work and focus that we ask from these athletes.”

Iowa State’s two all-around gymnasts had huge days. Junior Nikki Dilbert had a career-high all-around score of 39.325.

“I was pretty excited. I just went out there and did what I do every day in the gym,” Dilbert said.

The sophomore’s previous career high was a 39.250 during her freshman year.

Ronayne said he was thrilled with the way Dilbert has performed this season and that she has really grown up in the last year.

Iowa State’s other all-arounder, junior Jasmine Thompson, also had a career day. She posted a career high on bars and a season high on the floor exercise.

Stanford dominated the uneven bars in the first rotation. Allyse Ishino and Tabitha Yim scored back-to-back 9.900’s to lead the Cardinals to a 49.300 overall score.

The Cyclones scored a 48.575 on the vault to open the meet, receiving high scores from Jennifer Salfen. She scored a team-high 9.850, which was also a career high for the junior.

“I just started instantly sobbing because I was just so happy,” Salfen said. “I’ve worked really hard and I’ve had a rough first three meets, so it felt really good to go out there and nail it.”

Iowa State fared well on the bars in the second rotation, but couldn’t gain any ground against Stanford. Thompson had a career-high score of 9.875, which led the Cyclones to a 48.675 team score. Halfway through the meet the Cyclones trailed, 98.250-97.250.

In the third rotation, the Cyclones tallied a 48.400 on the beam. Thompson led the team once again with a 9.825. Heading into the final rotation, the Cyclones trailed the Cardinals, 146.950-145.650.

The Cyclones saved the best for last in the floor exercise. The Cyclones had struggled on the floor all season, but came up with their strongest showing of the season on Sunday. Iowa State posted a season-high 48.900, 0.725 points higher than the previous high.

The Cyclones had dug themselves to big a hole, though, and the big floor rotation wasn’t enough.

Dilbert capped off the finest performance of her career with a career-high 9.900 on floor.

“I was out there to perform, and I’ve had really strong practices in the gym this week,” Dilbert said. “I was ready to go out there and show them what I was capable of.”