The Cyclone gymnastics squad participated in the NC State Quad-Meet on Saturday. The team faced the NC State Wolfpack, Northern Illinois Huskies and Temple Owls.
In the past, the Cyclones struggled to find success at multi-opponent events, after finishing third at their first quad-meet and second at both of their prior tri-meets. The team also entered on a heavy skid without an overall win since the middle of January.
Things changed with a strong second place finish Saturday.
Nearly ending the skid
Iowa State pulled off a 196.7 performance that earned it second overall in the NC State Quad-Meet. The loss came down to NC State’s last performer of the night, with a thin 0.3-point differential between the two teams.
While not the perfect outcome for the team, the Cyclones have nothing to be ashamed of after putting up their highest score since their last overall win in January. The second-place finish also marked their best performance at a quad-meet thus far this season.
Iowa State freshmen lead the balance beam
The freshmen tandem of Noelle Adams and Lauren O’Brochta led the way for the Cyclones during the second rotation of the meet.
Both Cyclone freshmen managed scores of 9.875, right next to fellow Cyclone Josie Bergstrom. The rest of the Cyclones for the balance beam scored a 9.850, making their performance on the beam a strong outing overall as no Cyclone scored below 9.8.
O’Brochta’s score of 9.875 outperformed the previous personal high score of 9.8 and well outdid the personal season average of 9.581 points.
Unlikely scorers
The scoring did not come specifically from the usual suspects at the NC State Quad-Meet. The Cyclones saw strong performances from the likes of the previously mentioned O’Brochta, as well as Madelyn Manternach and Kaia Parker.
Manternach performed strongly in the floor exercise and was the second-highest scorer for the Cyclones with a 9.9, beating the personal average score of 9.804.
Additionally, Parker led the Cyclones in the floor exercise with a 9.925. This tied Parker’s career high and also helped the team in a major way with Noelle Adams, the normal high scorer in the floor exercise, only scoring a 9.850.
