The ISU gymnastics squad tied the Big 12 Conference championship scoring record (196.775) to claim its first conference title in 23 years Saturday night at Hilton Coliseum.

“From top to bottom, it was a great team effort,” ISU head coach Amy Pyle said. “We made some mistakes, but there was always someone there to make up for them.”

Junior Betsy Hamm, the events biggest performer, echoed her coach’s sentiments and credited the Cyclones success to a focused team effort.

“It was such a great opportunity for us,” Hamm said. “There were a few mistakes, but we really pulled for each other and had confidence in each other, and that was the difference.”

The Cyclones snapped Nebraska’s streak of six consecutive conference titles. The Huskers (196.750) placed second, while Oklahoma (195.550) and Missouri (194.375) placed third and fourth, respectively. Iowa State captured its only other league titles in 1977 and 1975.

“Our focus was on ourselves, just like it is every meet,” Pyle said. “This isn’t like basketball. We cant go out there and defend Nebraska. We just have to do what we can do, one person at a time.”

Despite facing an underdog role entering the competition, the Cyclones were confident in their chances, even against the mighty Cornhuskers.

“Being underdogs took some of the pressure off,” Hamm said. “We believed if we hit, we could win. When we’ve hit, we’ve had higher team scores than Nebraska, so we knew if we were on, we could beat them.”

Hamm was an all-conference performer in every event, sharing the title on the uneven bars (9.925) with teammate Sissy Huey, OU’s Amber McCracken and NU’s Julie Houk.

“Incredible. Awesome,” Pyle said, describing her star. “She just rocked on every single event.”

However, Pyle felt the uneven bar title should have been awarded to Huey alone.

“Sissy had an awesome meet and an awesome routine,” Pyle said, “and she should have won that event outright. With everything she’s been through, her defense of that title was amazing.”

In addition to sharing the uneven bar title, Hamm won outright championships on the balance beam (9.90) and in the all-around (39.60). Hamm’s all-around tally, which tied her career best, was a Big 12 Championship record. She placed second on the floor exercise (9.925) and tied for fourth on the vault with five other gymnasts (9.850), including teammates Karen Kuplicki and Sarah Sanderson.

“Betsy gave us that extra inch of effort all the way,” Pyle said. “She had what I felt was her best floor routine of the year, and her vault was just icing on the cake.”

Senior Kelli More tied for third place on the balance beam (9.850) with three other gymnasts, while Sanderson tied for third on the floor exercise (9.90) with three other gymnasts.

“As always, Kelli performed like a true leader and a true captain in every aspect,” Pyle said. “She had one little wobble on the balance beam, and that had to be a huge frustration for her, but she bounced back and played a big part in our championship.”

Sanderson’s floor score was a season best and tied her career high.

Big 12 Gymnast of the Year Heather Brink won the floor exercise (9.950) and the vault (9.975) to pace Nebraska. Husker head coach Dan Kendig was tabbed Big 12 Coach of the Year, while NU’s A.J. Lamb and Iowa State’s Hamm shared league newcomer of the year honors.