Three Big Takeaways: Gymnastics celebrates senior night, freshman stand out

The Iowa State gymnastics team huddles during the meet against the University of Iowa on March 4.

Hailey Dohnal
March 6, 2022

Cyclone gymnastics had their last home meet of the season Friday night with lots to celebrate and much more to look forward to.

The Cyclones competed against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the annual Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk series but came up short with a final score of 196.500-196.825.

Hilton Coliseum brought the energy to a new level, hitting an all-time attendance record for a gymnastics-only event with 3,889 in attendance.

“I love the energy they all brought,” Iowa State head coach Jay Ronayne said. “It was a great environment.”

Even though the result was not ideal, Cyclone gymnastics did not go down without a fight.

Celebrating the seniors

Not only was Friday the final competition of the season in Hilton Coliseum, but the night was also about celebrating the Cyclones’ nine seniors.

This year’s seniors have helped build Cyclone gymnastics to where it is today.

Senior Sophia Steinmeyer competed on vault for the first time in over a year after a season-ending achilles injury last year.

“To not have an achilles, then worked for a year and to come out and do what she did [Friday], it’s all about the guts that it takes to come in everyday and put in the hard work,” Ronayne said.

Steinmeyer’s vault scored a 9.825, which helped the team lead the Hawkeyes by .525 after the first rotation. She also matched her season-high on the balance beam with a 9.825.

Senior Kelsey Boychuk also contributed to the team’s vault score with a 9.825. Senior Ariana Orrego led the team on the uneven bars with a score of 9.800. Orrego also earned a season-high floor exercise score of 9.850.

The uneven bars scores were a tad lower than the team is typically used to, which put the Cyclones behind the Hawkeyes by .225 after the second rotation.

Orrego also earned a season-high on the floor exercise by putting up a score of 9.850, which helped the Cyclones earn their highest team score on floor with a 49.425.

Season-bests shine

The Cyclone gymnastics freshmen have continued to put up high scores and stand out through each competition.

Josie Bergstrom, the only freshman in the vault lineup Friday night, scored a 9.850 on the event. Bergstrom matched her career-high on the balance beam with a 9.850 — the highest beam score for the beam team.

Hannah Loyim continued to show her talent on the uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. Loyim scored a 9.725 on the bars, a 9.775 on the beam and a career-high on floor with a 9.925.

Redshirt junior Makayla Maxwell scored a 9.900 on the vault for the third time this season and led the team in the event.

Sophomore Kaia Parker earned a season-high as well, tying her career-high with a 9.825 on vault.

Alondra Maldonado earned a career-high on the balance beam, 9.825, and floor exercise, 9.875. Alondra’s floor score tied with junior Maddie Diab.

Her sister, senior Andrea Maldonado, put up the highest floor score for the Cyclones with a 9.900.

More to come

Although it was senior night and the last home meet at Hilton, the season is not over just yet for the Cyclones.

The team has one more competition before the Big 12 Championships on March 19. Season highs and career highs have continuously occurred through each competition, and the team has more time to improve on those results.

The Cyclones’ next competition will be a quad-meet against Missouri, Illinois and Lindenwood at 5 p.m. March 12.

Results (top five scores are counted)

Vault:

Makayla Maxwell: 9.900

Josie Bergstrom: 9.850

Emilie Hong: 9.850

Kelsey Boychuk: 9.825

Kaia Parker: 9.825

Sophia Steinmeyer: 9.825

Bars:

Ariana Orrego: 9.800

Laura Cooke: 9.750