Mazza looking to capture title at championships

Chad Calek

Kim Mazza’s senior year is nothing short of a culmination of hard work, desire and the will to win..

Last fall, the Cyclone gymnast earned a perfect 4.0 grade-point average.

In March, she scored a perfect 10 in the floor exercise at the Big 12 championships.

And this weekend, Mazza will become the first women’s gymnast at Iowa State to compete in the NCAA championships. Mzza will be in search of a gold medal performace in the all-around.

”I’m just going to do my job, stick my landings and let the judges do the rest,” Mazza said.

Mazza, the highest ranked all-arounder to qualify individually, will have her hands full. Those ahead of her all made it as part of a team.

Mazza scored a career-best 39.325 at the Big 12 meet, breaking her own school record of 39.000, looks to continue her excellance at the NCAA meet.

”She’s ready,” Iowa State coach Amy Pyle said. ”We’re just working on polish mainly.”

The NCAA meet will conclude an Iowa State career in which Mazza has been joined by her triplet sisters, Karen and Katie. They also have been major contributors to the Cyclone program.

”To be here with my sisters is awesome,” Mazza said. ”This has been the best four years of my life. You always have somebody to turn to.”

Mazza was the first female gymnast at Iowa State to score a 10. She also holds the school record in the uneven bars and shares the record in the balance beam.

”She has such high expectations of herself,” Pyle said.

”She has improved on everything the past four years. The difference is like night and day, not only in the way she performs her skills, but her difficulty level has increased tenfold.”

Adding to her list of achievments, Mazza was named GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American First Team.


— The Associated Press contributed to this story.