Cyclone gymnastics looks to snap two year losing streak against Iowa
Loganne Basuel performs a backflip in her beam routine during the meet against Denver University in Hilton Coliseum on Feb. 24, 2023.
The Cyclones gymnastics team is preparing for this year’s Cy-Hawk matchup on the road and looks to turn things around with a win.
Coming off of a loss on senior night against Denver, the Cyclones wrap up their home meets and will travel to Iowa City for Saturday’s competition.
While they weren’t able to get the job done against a Big 12 opponent that they will see again at the Championships in a few weeks, head coach Jay Ronayne is happy with how his team reacted after a loss on a special night.
“An outsider would think ‘wow, they are happy after a loss,’ we were. It was great,” Ronayne said. “Everyone had the feeling of a win, which I thought was really cool.”
While there have been some improvements on beam and bars, most notably out of fifth-year senior Natalie Horowitz on bars, there has still been more to be desired at the end of competitions. Ronayne stressed that the advice has stayed the same; to focus on their own personal growth.
“Just about everyone is getting better, but we still have a lot more room for growth,” Ronayne said. “Everyone’s still on their own personal journey. That’s something I wanna try and keep reminding them.”
Iowa States’ gymnastics team currently sits with an 8-5 overall record and is .500 on the road so far at 2-2, with their last road win coming against Lindenwood on Feb. 17. The Cyclones have not gotten a win against the Hawkeyes in the last two matchups, with both meets being decided by just .325 last season and .200 in 2020.
When talking about the rivalry, Ronayne said his team enjoys not liking the Hawkeyes and let out a laugh when saying they speculated that the Hawkeyes team felt the same way about them. He added that it’s always a battle with them and that nothing has to be manufactured with the rivalry, it’s already there.
“The rivalry between Iowa and Iowa State is real, and it’s one of my favorite things,” Ronayne said. “It’s a wonderful rivalry, and it builds its own motivation into this week.”
The competition will be streamed on Big Ten plus and will begin at 5 p.m. Saturday.
Your donation will support the student journalists of the Iowa State Daily. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment, send our student journalists to conferences and off-set their cost of living so they can continue to do best-in-the-nation work at the Iowa State Daily.
