ISU gymnasts expect nothing less than the best this season, and that’s exactly what’s expected of them.

Coming off the heels of a 2005 NCAA National Collegiate Women’s Gymnastics Championships appearance and a strong season-opening performance against national powerhouses on Friday at the Super Six Challenge, the gymnasts plan to achieve what is expected of them.

“I expect us to do really well and make it to nationals for the second season in a row, which we’ve never done,” said junior Janet Anson. “We have a lot of people who are returning, so I’m expecting a lot for us this season.”

With three All-Americans returning to lead one of the strongest lineups in ISU gymnastics history, coach K.J. Kindler said she is hopeful this season will be a turning point for the program.

“Our top hope is to make consecutive trips to the NCAA National Championships,” said Kindler, whose team has been there twice in the last four years. “I think to get there consecutively tells you something about the program, that we’ve actually arrived. Sporadic appearances are great, but I’m definitely looking for a little bit more consistency.

“We want to become a national power and to do that we have to be there every year, so that’s definitely the goal for the year.”

Ranked No. 7 in team totals by GymInfo, the official NCAA National Rankings for Gymnastics, the Cyclones hope to dominate their competition through technical consistency, self-confidence and solid individual contributions.

“I think we started our season off really well, but we need to keep building each meet,” said senior Laura-Kay Powell. “[We will do this] by getting the scores that we want to, being consistent and focusing on all the little things that we practice in the gym.”

History shows Iowa State as a dominate force in the all-around competition, which consists of an individual’s total scores in the balance beam, floor exercise, uneven bars and vault events. The Cyclones all-around performers consist of Anson, Powell, senior Erin Dethloff and sophomore Jade Kvach. Anson, Dethloff and Kvach all placed in the Top 10 all-around standings at the Super Six Challenge.

Strong all-around performances will be supplemented by a number of crucial role-players.

“Junior Ashley Alden and senior Kacey Oiness are very captivating on bars and floor and freshman Ashley Kent is dynamic on the beam,” Kindler said. “She does some of the most difficult things on balance beam on the whole team. She’ll probably be one of our best on that event.”

On the vault, junior Katie Lasher hopes to have a breakout year to complement senior Jessica Oney’s consistently strong performances. Lasher, who also competes on uneven bars, is focusing on taking on new challenges.

“I’d like to keep doing well on vault and bars, and I really hope to compete on floor,” Lasher said. “I’m the alternate right now, but my real goal is to compete in three events.”

After a wobbly start on the beam at the Super Six Challenge, Kindler said she is confident that it will become one of the Cyclones’ best events.

“Vault and floor are their top strengths, but I think they are capable of having beam be their absolute strongest event,” Kindler said.

After an injury-riddled 2005 season, Kindler pointed out how staying healthy is an important piece of the winning puzzle.

“The biggest key is that these guys have to stay healthy, and that can be tough sometimes,” Kindler said. “Staying healthy is definitely the key to keeping this team on track.”

The Cyclones, who have been undefeated at home for the past two seasons, will host the NCAA North Central Regional Championships in April.

Kindler said fans can expect to have fun when watching the Cyclones compete.

“They can expect if they come to a meet that it’s going to be exciting,” she said. “I think that gymnastics is a very unique sport and very captivating and awesome to watch.

“As an Olympic sport, it’s the top spectator sport in the Olympics and you have it right here in Ames, so you should come out and support it. You can expect a top-notch national program whenever you come to watch.”