The Iowa State gymnastics team finished third in Morgantown, West Virginia, with a final score of 195.825 after digging a hole early on in the third meet of the season. 

West Virginia would win the meet with a score of 196.375, Towson would score 196.025, finishing in second place, and Eastern Michigan finishing in last place with a score of 194.050.

The Cyclones would finish the meet with the highest scores in three of the four events but had to battle back early on the road, falling just short in the final event. Here are the three big takeaways.

Cyclones continue to struggle on bars

The Cyclones started the afternoon on bars, an event they’ve had troubles with all season. While they did score their season-high on bars with a 48.275, that would put them in last place going into the second round of events.

Natalie Horowitz scored a 7.600 on bars, which played a role in the Cyclone’s early hole that they had to dig out of. Strong performances from Loganne Basuel, who scored a 9.725, and Laura Cooke, who scored a 9.700, would finish off the Cyclone’s first round of performances. 

Cyclones bounce back on beam

Before today the Cyclones had struggled on beam, and after falling behind early on bars, they needed some big scores on beam to get back into the meet. They would score a season-high 49.225, the highest among all teams, with standout scores all around the lineup.

Lauren Thomas would score a 9.650 to start beam for the Cyclones, and the scores only got better from there. Loganne Basuel would lead the way with a 9.900, which tied for the best score on beam overall. Horowitz would bounce back after a low performance on bars with a 9.850 on beam. The other three performers on beam for the Cyclones were Kelsey Boychuk, Josie Bergstrom and Hannah Loyim would all score 9.825. 

Vault performance isn’t enough for the win

The Cyclones would post a 49.350 on floor, with Maddie Diab scoring a 9.925, which was tied for the best score on floor overall. With a chance to win the meet, the Cyclones headed into vault, their final event of the afternoon sitting in first place with a narrow lead. 

Kaia Parker would tie for the best score overall on beam with a 9.850, but the other performers for the Cyclones weren’t able to score enough to keep the lead. After a couple of solid performances from Boychuk on beam and floor, she scored a 9.625, the lowest among the Cyclones. They would slowly watch their lead trickle away, as the other teams wrapped up their performances, in a tight Sunday showdown all around.

The Cyclones will be back in action Friday night on the road against Oklahoma.