It was a case of revenge and final farewells for the Iowa State gymnastics team Sunday.

The Cyclones avenged a February 6 loss at Minnesota with a 195.775 to 195.575 home victory over the Golden Gophers.

The team also said farewell to lone senior Michelle Hladky, who was competing in her final home meet.

Iowa State’s team score of 195.775 was a season high and the third highest score in school history.

The victory was keyed by strong team performances in each event, particularly the floor exercise.

Sophomore Jessy Smith tied her career high on the floor with a first place-tying score of 9.90.

Sophomore Angie Umbaugh tied for second with a season high of 9.875.

Freshman Sissy Huey and junior Sarah Stayberg tied their career highs for the third time this season with scores of 9.825 each, while sophomore Lauren Goldberg set a career high with a score of 9.850.

The team set a new season-high score with 49.275 on the floor, also the third best score in Iowa State history.

Head coach Amy Pyle said she wasn’t trying to look at the scores that much heading into the floor exercise, but she knew it was close.

“I was a little worried when Kelli [More] had a little problem on her first pass and then recovered pretty well,” Pyle said. “I didn’t know how well Jessy could handle that pressure because she knew how close it was and that she had to hit it. She didn’t have a good warm-up on her double backs, but she did a great job and pulled through for us at the end.”

Huey said the team pulled together on the floor to capture the victory.

“Sometimes during the end we tend to go down because we’re tired, but this time we kept it up; everyone worked hard and we did really good together,” Huey said.

This was a much different Cyclone team than the one that faced the Golden Gophers a month ago in the Twin Cities, Pyle said.

“In Minneapolis, the first five people fell off six times on the beam, but the rest of the events went well up there and we were winning going into beam,” Pyle said. “It’s great to turn it around and stick the beam. Beam is what’s going to make it or break it at the big meets.”

Was this a case of revenge for the Cyclones?

“Definitely,” Hladky said. “I’m not sure if we beat them last year, but I do know they’re our biggest rivals. It was great to beat them, especially at my last meet going out.”

“This was a great comeback, especially since we lost to them at their meet,” Huey said. “From the very beginning we felt comfortable and confident that we were going to win. Even though we were second at Florida, we still felt confident coming into this meet.”

Huey capped off a strong evening with a third-place score on the uneven bars of 9.825 and a career high on the balance beam of 9.925, which earned her first place.

Pyle said that Huey was on fire from the moment she stepped on the beam.

“She hit that mount and you could see that smile come out. She didn’t let down,” Pyle said. “We told them today, because they weren’t real aggressive on beam at Florida, to just be aggressive and everything will fall into place.”

For the squad, it was their second meet in three days. On Friday, the team placed second against #18 Florida, Auburn and North Carolina State with a score of 194.375, just behind host Florida’s score of 195.725.

At that meet, the Cyclones took first-place honors as a team in the vault with a score of 48.600, led by freshman Shelly Kringen’s second- place score of 9.825.

However, Kringen was injured at the meet and was unable to compete against Minnesota. Pyle said Kringen has a bone chip in her ankle and is not sure how long she will be out of action.

“It was the second vault for her at Florida, her hands slipped and don’t think one of them got on,” Pyle said. “She’s lucky to have made it to her back and that she didn’t have a really serious injury.”

With the injury to top gymnast Kringen, Hladky stepped up and stepped in to take Kringen’s spot on the balance beam. Pyle said that Hladky did not let the pressure get to her at all.

“On beam, she had a little hesitation before her gainer layout somersault, so that cost her, but she hasn’t competed beam since the first meet,” Pyle said. “Shelly got hurt and she went in and did a great job, especially withstanding the pressure.”

Pyle said Hladky fought hard all day long, especially on the uneven bars, and stayed on the bars, giving the team the lift that they needed.

Hladky said she finished the meet with mixed emotions, but she was still glad about the outcome of the meet.

“I was sad to leave the team because I’ve been together with these girls for four years,” Hladky said. “These are the people that are closest to me and I’m closest to them, so it’s like leaving a family. Still, it was good to go out this way and I couldn’t be any happier about that.”

On the vault, the Cyclones tied for first, with Stayberg and Goldberg each carding career-high scores of 9.90.

Umbaugh and junior Kelly Cherwein set season highs with scores of 9.75 and 9.65, respectively, en route to a season-high team score of 48.875 on the vault. That is the fourth best score in school history.

Junior Kelli More placed second on the uneven bars, tying her season high for the third time this season with a score of 9.850.

Freshman Dena Albacker tied the career-high score she set in Florida with a 9.725 on the bars.

Smith placed second on the beam with a score of 9.85, and Umbaugh set a season high on the beam with a 9.75.

Smith also placed first in the all-around competition with a score of 39.125, and Stayberg was second with a score of 38.625.

In the end, Pyle said the team pulled through nicely after two tough meets this weekend.

“We got back from Florida at 8 p.m. on Saturday, then we lose Shelly and have another meet. I didn’t think they could handle it, being tired and then finding out about Shelly, but they did a great job,” Pyle said.

The 20th-ranked Cyclones, whose record now stands at 9-4 overall, return to action on March 17 with a meet at Iowa. Hladky hopes that the momentum that the squad has built recently will continue throughout the rest of the season.

“Hopefully we’ll keep it together like we have been lately and we’ll win,” Hladky said.