It’s a dream that has been four years in the making — building on the Cyclones’ first-ever appearance at the NCAA National Championship in 2000 and making the trip a tradition and Iowa State a household name in college gymnastics.

Each year the squad has improved, consistently finishing in the top 15 nationally, but has finished third at the regional qualifier the past four years — one spot shy of a championship berth. Saturday, the Cyclones put that stigma to rest, placing second at the NCAA Central Region Championship behind host Alabama (196.675-195.625) and advancing to the NCAA National Championship in Auburn, Ala., in two weeks.

“This was the biggest hurdle for our program that I can think of,” said coach K.J. Kindler. “Making [nationals] the first time is a huge accomplishment, but to go back again, it’s just something we’ve been struggling with the past four years.

“People have been watching our program for the past eight years and have noticed what a great program we have, but this really proves it — it puts us on the map most definitely as one of the top programs in the nation,” she said.

Iowa State’s second-place regional finish didn’t come without having to overcome a few unkindly twists of fate, most notably some missteps from the team’s most solid performers.

In the Cyclones’ first routine of the evening, senior Abigail Richey suffered a fall from the balance beam after being the only Cyclone to complete the season without a fall. Knowing one score is dropped from each event, the pressure was put on the team’s remaining five gymnasts to hit and contribute big scores.

“Everyone did a great job recovering,” said all-arounder Janet Anson. “We pretty much just blocked [the first fall] out of our minds and did what we normally do — we knew we had each others backs.”

The fall did little to rattle the Cyclones’ confidence, with the remaining competitors pulling through with solid scores and placing the Cyclones just .15 behind first-place Alabama and .025 in front of third-place Kentucky.

After the Cyclones sat out in the second rotation, the team returned to the competition on its best event, the floor.

Once again the Cyclones stood shocked as sophomore Rachel Parker started off the rotation with a fall.

Sophomore Ashley Alden, and junior co-captains Kacey Oiness and Erin Dethloff all posted 9.85s to propel the Cyclones forward. An out-of-bounds deduction dropped junior Laura Kay Powell’s score to a 9.7, but Anson, the 2005 Big 12 Floor Champion, responded with a 9.925 to tie her season high and take second place on the event behind Alabama’s 2004 national floor champion, Ashley Miles.

On vault, however, the Cyclones faced another abnormal crash, as sophomore Katie Lasher fell on her vault. Anson, a national event finalist last season, stepped up to the plate and posted a 9.875, to once again place second behind Miles, who was also the 2004 national vault champion.

“We definitely made it hard on ourselves,” Kindler said. “It could have been much easier; the best thing is the team was able to regroup.”

Leaving nothing to chance, the Cyclones came out on their last event, uneven bars, with a mission to succeed, hitting every routine and posting the best team score all evening, 48.975. Conversely, Auburn stumbled on the vault, leaving the door wide open for the Cyclones to pull away.

Dethloff, a two-time national qualifier and All-American, put the exclamation point on the Cyclones’ run, punching the Cyclone’s team ticket to nationals with a 9.85, becoming Iowa State’s first-ever regional uneven bars champion.

Though Dethloff said she was honored and excited about her title, she said she was most proud of her team’s efforts.

“Going to nationals as a team, it is so much more motivating and exiting than being there as an individual,” Dethloff said. “I’m glad that we put together a good enough performance to go.

“It’s a well-deserved ending to our season.”