The No. 23 Iowa State Cyclone gymnastics team had its biggest challenge of the season Monday hosting the No. 1 ranked team in gymnastics, the Oklahoma Sooners.

The Cyclones battled during the whole meet but were ultimately defeated by the Sooners, 197.575-196.275.

The Cyclones came off a 196.275-196.250 win at the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk series in a win against rival Iowa. This was the first time the Cyclones have won in Iowa City since 2010. The momentum has pushed the Cyclones this week to improve all-around in the events to face two top five teams.

During the beam event, freshman Grace Woolfolk had a great final routine for Iowa State scoring a 9.925. Woolfolk is the only freshman in the Iowa State program history to score two 9.925’s in the same season.

“I don’t pay attention to the scores or the success, I just go out there and perform my best,” Woolfolk said. “I perform for the team and my teammates and coaches.”

Woolfolk said her goal for the rest of the season is to start preparing for the Big 12 championships.

“I hope to continue competing in the beam and contributing any way I possibly can to this team,” Woolfolk said.

Coach of the Iowa State gymnastics team Jay Ronayne said he was very proud of Woolfolk’s routine and is impressed in how much she has improved during the year.

“I was curious to see how Grace would perform this year because she hasn’t performed in years,” Ronayne said. “Grace’s performances are always pretty and her confidence level has risen each and every week.”

During the vault event, sophomore Sophia Steinmeyer earned a new career-high of 9.900.

Sophomore Natalia Ros Vaquer hadn’t competed on the bar event since the first week of the season. Ros Vaquer earned a score of 9.900 against the Sooners.

On the beam event, senior Sydney Converse recorded her first collegiate 9.900. Converse has now earned a new career-high on the beam event in back-to-back meets.

Next Up

The Cyclones have a short week and are set to host No. 5 Denver on Friday at 6:30 p.m.

“We focused on the battle today, we will have a break tomorrow but our focus is now shifted to No. 5 Denver and we are looking forward toward the battle on Friday,” Ronayne said.

Starting on March 23, the Big 12 Gymnastics Championships will be held in Norman, Oklahoma. The NCAA Regional Championships will be from April 4 through 6 and the NCAA Gymnastics Championships will be held on April 19 and 20 in Fort Worth, Texas.