Three Big Takeaways: Cyclone gymnastics finishes regular season with another perfect score

Redshirt junior Makayla Maxwell competes in the vault during the Cyclones’ gymnastics meet against the University of Iowa on March 4.

Hailey Dohnal
March 12, 2022

Cyclone gymnastics wrapped up their regular competition season Saturday night with plenty to hang their hats on.

Even with the tough competition facing the Cyclones, the team finished third in their quad-meet against No. 11 Missouri, No. 25 Illinois and Lindenwood and also received their second highest team score of the season at 196.825.

Missouri came out on top with a final score of 197.675, Illinois finished with a 197.275 and Lindenwood rounded out the competitors with a 194.825.

The Cyclones gained tons of momentum by earning multiple career and season highs both individually and for the team including another perfect score.

Strong Beam Start

The Cyclones started on the balance beam for this competition and did not disappoint.

Although starting on beam is not something the team is entirely used to, the team has continued to find their rhythm and practice how they will compete.

Kelsey Boychuk and Mexi Semple both led the team on beam with a score of 9.875. That score was a career high for Boychuk.

Josie Bergstrom and Sophia Steinmeyer both scored a 9.850. For Steinmeyer it was a season high and Bersgtrom matched her career high.

With those high beam scores, the Cyclones earned their highest beam score of the season with a 49.225. The team trailed by .225 after the first rotation.

The Cyclones moved to the floor exercise, one of their stronger events, where they continued to put up high scores.

Kelsey Boychuk started off the floor rotation scoring a 9.825. Alondra Maldonado followed by putting up the same score.

Hannah Loyim and Arianna Orrego also earned big scores both earning a 9.800.

Maddie Diab led the team with a score of 9.950. Diab has continued to stay consistent on the event and has continuously put up large scores on the floor exercise helping out her team tremendously.

Although the team still trailed after the second rotation and was not able to catch up to the top spot, they still had a great deal of talent to show the judges.

Powerful, Perfect Vault

Throughout the whole season, the vault has been one of the Cyclones strongest events and that continued to occur throughout this competition.

Emilie Hong matched her career high with a 9.875. Sophia Steinmeyer also matched her career high with a 9.925.

Kelsey Boychuk scored a 9.800 and Josie Bergstrom scored a 9.700 for the team.

The final gymnast to compete in the vault lineup was Makayla Maxwell and she knew exactly how to finish out the event.

Maxwell followed in her teammates footsteps and earned a perfect score of 10.0.

Just a few weeks ago, Maddie Diab scored a 10.0 on the floor exercise.

Maxwell’s perfect 10 helped tie the Cyclones season high vault score, and it wasn’t the end of her evening.

Successful Finish

The Cyclones finished off their competition on the uneven bars.

There were only five gymnasts in the bars lineup instead of the normal six but the team still was able to put up much higher scores than they have within the last few weeks.

Because there were only being five gymnasts in the lineup, every score counted no matter what the outcome was. When there are the usual six, the lowest score from that event is dropped.

After earning a perfect score on the previous event, Makayla Maxwell was first to go in the bars lineup and scored a 9.825; the third highest score of the teams lineup.

Laura Cooke went second in the lineup scoring a 9.875. Hannah Loyim and Arianna Orrego followed Cooke. Loyim scored a 9.750 while Orrego scored a 9.725.

Maya Ford finished out the lineup with a career high of a 9.925.

Cyclone gymnastics will use this next week to prepare for the Big 12 Championships on Saturday.

The team has kept up with countless amounts of progress throughout the season and is pumped to get to compete against many great teams.

“I’m really excited about it…it’s my favorite part of the season,” Head Coach Jay Ronayne said.

Beam:

Kelsey Boychuk: 9.875

Mexi Semple: 9.875

Josie Bergstrom: 9.850

Sophia Steinmeyer: 9.850

Hannah Loyim:9.775

Alondra Maldonado: 9.725

Floor: