Who are the athletes of the week? The ISU gymnasts are, of course. On Saturday they knocked off the University of Iowa to clinch the second annual Cy-Hawk Series. Let’s review the year Ames turned Iowa into the Cyclone state.

The women’s soccer team started off the year with 2-1 victory over the Hawks. Good start. Oh hum, not a big deal, right Hawks?

At least you have your almighty football team waiting in the wings. You’re ranked No. 8, the ESPN analysts are drooling over Kirk Ferentz and your linebackers are incredible. Yeah, we heard it all.

Above all, you have Drew Tate. A warrior. Probably the best quarterback to ever live – a sure lock for the Heisman, and the man leading his team to a national championship.

But after a quarter-and-a-half, Tate proved to be our 12th man. When he went out with a concussion after throwing an interception and having to make a tackle, I was worried where the turnovers would come from. But our team prevailed in convincing fashion – win No. 2 for the Cy-Hawk Series.

Then our boys and girls took the court for some hoops. The girls blew out the Hawkeyes, and the men followed suit.

The game was hyped up to enormous proportions. Again, the Hawkeyes were ranked higher and were favored to win. The biggest story wasn’t on the stat sheets. It was the return of the modern-day Benedict Arnold – Adam Haluska.

The crowd heckled him throughout the game. Mantras of boos flooded Hilton every time he touched the ball. It was quite amusing, and well-deserved, but after a while I started to feel bad for the kid. His face was eerily reminiscent of Casper’s when he realized he was back to his ghost form.

The Cyclones won the game, and the series was all but over. One more victory in any of the events and it was Iowa State taking home the hardware. After a couple of hiccups in swimming and wrestling, Saturday’s gymnastics match was the clincher.

Not a bad year for a school that played the role of the underdog and has a considerably smaller athletic budget.

It looks like we have plenty to look forward to as well. Our teams are young, and will be returning plenty of starters next year.

We have an exciting new athletic director in Jamie Pollard, and a growing number of supportive alumni.

With all of these things on our side, it looks like this first Cy-Hawk trophy for Iowa State won’t be the last.

– Ward Phillips is a sophomore in pre-journalism and mass communication from Des Moines.