With the season halfway over, the ISU gymnastics team is thrilled with what its achieved so far.

“I think we’re doing awesome,” said senior Krystal Carney. “We keep getting better and better, which is positive for when we get to postseason, we’ll be at our prime.”

The Cyclones have plenty to be excited about. They sport a 10-2 overall record while holding an undefeated 3-0 record in Big 12 duals. Iowa State is currently enjoying it’s third-best start in school history, behind only 1976’s 12-0 and 2004’s 11-2 starts.

Coach K.J. Kindler said she is happy with what she’s seen from her team thus far this season.

“I’m very pleased,” she said. “I knew I had strong leadership walking in and that the team chemistry was good.”

She added that strong leadership and cohesiveness are the key to the team’s success.

“Those are two things that sometimes are difficult to control and we have that in our corner,” she said.

Iowa State has been ranked in the top 25 of the GymInfo national collegiate women’s gymnastics rankings throughout the entire season, jumping from a preseason No. 11 ranking to their current ranking of No. 5.

The Cyclones have also enjoyed strong performances in each of the individual events.

Currently ranked in the top 11 of all four events (floor exercise, balance beam, uneven parallel bars and vault), the team is enjoying unprecedented success.

The Cyclones ranked No. 3 in the country on the floor exercise, No. 8 on beam, No. 10 on bars and No. 11 on vault. Kindler said she believes there’s a chance Iowa State can reach No. 1 on the floor exercise.

“Floor is excellent, so it’s possible.” she said. “I don’t think we’ve been ranked No. 1 on any event before.”

Along with strong showings as a team, many gymnasts are performing extremely tough individually. Junior Janet Anson is currently ranked No. 5 nationally in the all-around, leading the Big 12 with an average regional qualifying score of 39.330. Senior Erin Dethloff follows closely behind with a score of 39.205, good for No. 11 in the country.

The Cyclones’ success has even resonated beyond the scope of gymnastics. Iowa State defeated the University of Iowa on Jan. 28 to a clinch victory in the Hy-Vee Cy-Hawk series for ISU athletics as a whole.

Despite the impressive performances thus far, senior Jessica Oney believes that the best is yet to come.

“I think we haven’t had our best meet yet, so were working on fine tuning the details and when we do put it all together, it’s going to be a really good meet and a really good experience for us,” she said.

The team is hoping to hit it’s prime at the Big 12 championships, held in Lincoln, Neb., on March 25. The Big 12 has proven to be a very strong conference this year, with all four Big 12 teams currently ranked in the top ten nationally.

Freshman Ashley Kent is confident the Cyclones have what it takes to bring home a Big 12 championship.

“I really think we can go all the way,” she said. “We’ve beat everyone else so far this year, and we’ve got the team to do it. We’re going to hit our routines and go out there and be the best we can be.”

Kindler said her team knows what’s expected of them at the Big 12 championships.

“The goal is to win and we won’t have any other goal but that. It’s win or die trying, so that’s what they’ll do,” she said.

Kindler also said despite what they’ve accomplished thus far, the Cyclones can’t lose sight of what lies ahead.

“The staff’s worked hard and the athletes know what the goal is,” she said.

“I’m very happy with where we’re at right now, but we’re halfway through and we have a lot left. It’s not necessarily how you start, but how you finish.”