Gymnastics visits Denver for the second meet of the season

Iowa State gymnast Maddie Diab performs in the floor exercise in a meet against Denver on Jan 15. (Photo courtesy of LUKE LU/Iowa State Athletics)

Gavin Ray

After coming off a close loss to open the 2021 season, the Iowa State Gymnastics team looks to get its revenge against Denver on Sunday. Iowa State comes into this week ranked at No. 18 nationally while Denver ranks No.5 in the country

Junior Addy De Jesus for Iowa State looks to lead the team to another strong showing on vault. Last week, De Jesus and Jade Vella-Wright led the team on vault, posting a score of 9.900. The team combined for a strong vault score of 49.175. The solid vault showing was the highest score the Cyclones have received on vault to open the season since 2005. 

The Cyclones also performed well on bars as Vella-Wright led the team to a 48.975 score. Vella-Wright notched a 9.875 and Natalie Horowitz followed up with a 9.800 score.

The team was happy about their season opener performance on bars, but will still look to improve going forward.

The second weekend will provide as an opportunity to bounce back on the floor exercise and balance beam events for Iowa State. The team had a down performance, reaching a 48.750 on floor and a 48.600 on the beam.

Maddie Diab and Andrea Maldonado each scored 9.825 on the floor and led the team. Meanwhile, Meixi Semple led the team on the beam with a 9.825.

While not the performance they were looking for, the Cyclones can make up for it Sunday. A win over No. 5 Denver this weekend could result in boost in the Cyclones’ national rank, which could also boost the team’s confidence in the early portion of the season.

Iowa State will visit the University of Denver at 1 p.m. on Sunday and look to balance its record at 1-1.