The Iowa state women’s gymnastics team made the final Big Eight Championship a memorable one with another record-setting performance on March 30.

Although the Cyclones had hoped to dethrone Nebraska, the defending champions, ISU achieved its highest team total in history to finish second.

The Cornhuskers retained the Big Eight crown scoring a season-high 195.050. Iowa State followed closely with 194.150, while Oklahoma (192.425) and Missouri (187.550) rounded out the field.

Cyclone Coach Amy Pyle was ecstatic with her team’s performance.

“We had a great meet tonight,” Pyle said. “There were a few mistakes here and there, but I couldn’t have asked for a better performance from the girls.”

In front of an electric Hilton crowd, the Lady Twisters began the competition on the ever-precarious balance beam. Knowing that they needed a consistent team performance to have a shot at the title, the Cyclones calmly hit five of six routines.

After the opening gymnast suffered a fall, ISU pulled themselves together to score an event-high 48.600. The remaining five competitors worked solidly, all placing in the top six for the event.

Cyclones Michelle Hladky, Shannon Herzog and Katie Mazza tied for sixth place, each scoring 9.675. Kim Mazza tied for fourth with a 9.750. Sophomore beam specialist Kayo Merritt improved on last year’s sixth place finish, placing second with a 9.825.

Pyle was happy with the team’s ability to hit under pressure.

“The beam team did an outstanding job tonight,” Pyle said. “There was so much pressure on them to get us off to a good start. They came through showing a tremendous amount of mental toughness.”

Pyle noted that it was a thrill seeing so many Cyclone on the award stand.

“Any time you place five girls in the top six on an event, you have to be happy,” she said. “I was especially happy for Kayo. She’s worked so hard all season, so it was great seeing her have her best routine tonight.”

With an excellent performance on the uneven bars, Nebraska held a slight lead over ISU after the first rotation.

Motivated by their strong effort on the beam, the Cyclones felt ready to take on the competition.

“After the beam we were just pumped up,” Pyle said. “I told the girls that they were going to have to be aggressive and stay focused for the remainder of the meet, and they did just that.”

Iowa State electrified the crowd with their emotional floor routines in the second rotation. Led by last year’s Big Eight Newcomer of the Year, Libby Bell, the Cyclones compiled a 48.800 team total, good enough to overtake the Huskers.

Bell captured her first Big Eight title by tying for first with Nebraska’s Kim DeHaan and Oklahoma’s Melissa Griffith. All three gymnasts recorded near-perfect scores of 9.850.

Senior team captain Teresa Looney placed fourth on the event scoring a 9.800 in here last competition at Hilton Coliseum.

Cyclones Heidi Kirt [9.750], Kim Mazza [9.725], Herzog [9.675] and Megan Wall [9.525] rounded out the team’s scoring.

Bell was excited with her first place finish.

“I still can’t believe that I won,” Bell said. ” I don’t think that it has hit me yet. I knew that I did a good routine, but I had no idea that I would win. My goal is always to do the best routine that I can. I think that I achieved that.”

Pyle was pleased with the squad’s floor routines, but noted that there were a few little mistakes that needed to be fixed before the upcoming regional championships.

“We had a good floor performance, but it wasn’t great,” she said. “I was really happy for Libby and Teresa, but there are still a few areas that we need to sharpen up before regionals.”

The third rotation found ISU on the vault and Nebraska on the floor exercise. Every Cyclone vaulter hit an outstanding vault, as the squad came through with yet another record-setting performance. The team total of 48.625 broke the previous record set against Florida earlier this season.

Sophomore Heidi Kirt led the Cyclone charge wit ha career-best 9.850, placing second on the event. Senior Megan Wall placed fourth with a 9.800. Kim Mazza mounted the award stand once again, placing sixth with a career-high 9.775. Junior Jen Allen [9.625] and Tawnya Cary [9.550] also vaulted strongly for ISU.

Pyle was excited with the team’s broken vault record.

“Vault was the highlight of the meet for us,” Pyle said. “Every single vaulter hit at least one great vault which resulted in an incredible team total.”

Pyle was pleased that virtually every gymnast performed a career-best vault.

“Heidi [Kirt], Megan [Wall] and Kim [Mazza] all did as well as I’ve ever seen them do,” Pyle said. “Jen [Allen] probably would have come close to winning vault if she could’ve stuck her landing. She’s the most powerful vaulter we have.”

Kirt was also pleased with her second place finish.

“I think that I did about the best vault I can do,” Kirt said. “I was excited to place that high. Hopefully I can increase my difficulty for next season. Then I should by able to go for the title.”

In her final appearance before the Hilton crowd, Wall stuck the landing on her vault of the first time in her career.

“I’m so happy with my vault,” Wall said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better way to go out as a senior.”

Despite the top-notch vault performance by the Cyclones, the Huskers closed the gap with a strong showing on the floor exercise. Entering the final event ISU led by the slimmest of margins (.075). The Cyclones moved to the bars, while Nebraska finished out the competition on their strongest event, the vault.

Kirt found the ward stand for the third time in as many events, as she led off with a sixth place 9.675. Katie Mazza followed with a solid 9.500. The third competitor, Amy Wall, suffered a break in her routine, but the remaining gymnasts recovered to salvage a 48.125 team total.

Freshman Michelle Hladky capped of a successful season by placing third on the event. Hladky’s 9.800 was bettered only by Huskers Joy Taylor and Kim DeHaan.

While the Cyclones were hitting their bar sets, Nebraska was nailing vault after vault. When the final results were tallied, the Huskers emerged as the victor.

Despite not reaching the team’s goal of winning the Big Eight crown, Pyle felt the team did a great job of putting pressure on Nebraska.

“We definitely made Nebraska squirm,” Pyle said. “It makes for a good meet when the teams put pressure on each other.”

In the all around competition Husker Joy Taylor capped off a memorable career by capturing the all-around crown. Taylor also topped the results on the beam and vault.

Iowa State’s Kim Mazza finished fourth, scoring a 38.775, the best all-around finish for a Cyclone since assistant coach K.J. Kindler finished second in the 1992 championship.

Mazza was happy with her overall performance, and excited with the team results.

“I’m pleased with the meet I had,” Mazza said. “I’m more excited with the way the team did though. We’ve improved every year that I’ve been here.”

Pyle summed up the team’s results.

“I couldn’t by happier with the team. We’ve had a great year.”