The home schedule for the ISU gymnastics team began this past weekend as they hosted the third-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers. The Cyclones had leapt from No. 20 to No. 8 in the national rankings after a win in East Lansing the week before.

Performing before the crowd at Hilton Coliseum was something the ISU athletes said they were looking forward to.

“It’s so much fun knowing that the cheers coming from the stands are for you,” senior Shelly Kringen said.

Kringen led the Cyclones, winning the all-around competition with a score of 39.425. However, the Huskers squeaked by with a 196.025-195.700 victory.

Despite her personal success, the senior gymnast said singular accomplishments are not her top priority.

“Everyone needs to come together as a team, so no one focuses on individual stuff,” she said. “If you get individual [awards], it’s a bonus, but the focus point is the team.”

A bad omen hit Iowa State before Friday’s meet as junior Courtney Sarrett injured her ankle while warming up for the competition.

ISU head coach K.J. Kindler said the team was rattled initially, but not for a good length of time.

“Definitely, we were in a little bit of a panic at first, [but] I went back and brought them all together,” she said. “I think the people that went in for [Courtney] did a phenomenal job.”

Freshman Abigail Richey filled in for Sarrett on the vault, while senior Dena Albecker and sophomore Gabrielle Layne took the junior’s spots on the balance beam and floor.

One area of improvement that Kindler stressed for the team’s next meet was on the vault apparatus, where most of the Cyclones’ scores were below 9.7.

“It was not as good as we could do,” Kindler said. “We’re a better team on vault. I feel like we could make up three-tenths on [it] easily.”

Another apparatus that proved to be better suited to the Huskers was the uneven bars. While Iowa State only saw one team member score above a 9.75, Nebraska ended with four gymnasts scoring above that same mark.

Kindler said despite the showing, more work will be done to improve during the season.

“Obviously, going 195.700 in your second meet of the year is great and I should be happy, but, we’re going to dig deeper and try to find more,” she said.

The team is currently preparing to battle intrastate rival Iowa this Saturday in Iowa City.