ISU gymnasts defend conference’s honor
January 16, 2007
MINNEAPOLIS – ISU gymnastics coach Jay Ronayne appeared to feel like anything but a winner after the Cyclones defeated Minnesota on Saturday night.
“A win is a win, but this is not at all what we expected,” Ronayne said. “We expected to be a lot better than this. Everyone – myself, the rest of the coaching staff and the team – are not pleased with the outcome.”
The then-13th ranked ISU gymnasts were the favorites going into this weekend’s contest against the Golden Gophers and, as expected, came out with a win. The Cyclones (4-0), however, were expecting to win by more than a .125 margin. The then-21st ranked Minnesota (0-1) posted a 194.400 to Iowa State’s 194.525.
“I knew walking in here it was a match up between Big 12 champions and Big Ten champions,” Ronayne said. “I know Minnesota’s good. Luckily we were able to be a little better today, but as the season progresses we hope to gain some more momentum and clean up the little things that keep us from scoring big.”
Last year, the Cyclones defeated the Golden Gophers 196.075-194.750. That Iowa State lineup, however, was heavy on upperclassmen and featured only one freshman in the rotation. The latest Cyclone rotation features four seniors leading a squad of mostly freshmen and sophomores.
The importance of the underclassmen, especially the freshmen, is not lost on Ronayne.
“Because we have so many freshmen out there, if they’re not doing what we expect them to do, we’re going to lose,” he said. “Because they were doing what they were supposed to do, we walk out of here with a win.
“The seniors did their job today, and that was a good thing, but we just made too many mistakes along the way.”
It should be noted that last season’s trip to Minnesota took place midway through the season, giving the Cyclones time to work out the early-season kinks in their routines. Ronayne, however, isn’t one to make excuses for his team.
“We didn’t show what we we’re capable of,” he said. “It was tough all day.”
The night, however, was not without its strong points. Senior Janet Anson and freshman Megan Barnes combined to win two event titles for the Cyclones and took the top and third place spots in the all-around competition, respectively.
Barnes has only two college competitions under her belt, but is a perfect 2-0 on vault, winning individual vault title honors against Minnesota and a four-team field at the Cancun Classic on Jan. 5.
Despite the early similarities, however, the Salt Lake City native says she’s not looking to match the 159-0 winning streak of fellow Utah native and current ISU wrestling coach Cael Sanderson.
“I think winning vault is just kind of a perk,” Barnes, the meet’s MVP, said. “I really just wanted to hit my vault because we needed to do well on vault and just keep the momentum going.”
Following the win, Iowa State jumped to No. 6 in the latest national rankings, while Minnesota’s strong performance moved them up six spots to No. 15. In gymnastics, rankings are based on total team scores and not a team’s overall record.
Despite her team’s struggles over the weekend, Barnes is confident heading into Friday night’s home opener against No. 5 Nebraska.
“I think we’re making steps towards where we want to be and just improving on what we did last week and building from here is what we need to do,” she said.
