Three Big Takeaways: Slow start, fantastic finish for the Cyclones

Iowa State junior Maddie Diab pumps up the crowd during her floor routine in the Cyclones’ gymnastics meet against the University of Nebraska on Jan. 7.

Hailey Dohnal
February 20, 2022

It’s another win for the Cyclones.

Iowa State gymnastics finished off their two-competition weekend strong with more season highs and coming out on top.

The Cyclones came off of a successful and high scoring competition which they won Friday night and were ready for round two.

Their first-place finish resulted in a 196.275 team score with Central Michigan not too far behind with a 196.175.

Northern Illinois and Western Michigan trailed by further with Northern Illinois scoring a 195.500 and Western Michigan a 194.050.

Slow Floor Start

The team started off the competition on the floor exercise with scores that held them back from taking the lead right away.

Ariana Orrego scored a 9.675 and Laura Cooke a 9.650. Those scores were lower compared to previous meets. However, the rest of the floor lineup brought higher scores.

Sisters Andrea and Alondra Maldonado scored closely together with Andrea scoring a 9.850 and Alondra receiving a career high of a 9.800.

Maddie Diab closed out the floor rotation with a 9.900 leading the team on floor once again.

After the first rotation, the Cyclones trailed the leading team by 0.25.

They would move to one of their most successful events and would have the rest of the events following bring them back to where they needed to be.

Staying Consistent

The Cyclones moved to their second rotation, vault, where they have been consistent and confident in both their scores and performance this season.

Kelsey Boychuk, Josie Bergstrom, and Emilie Hong all put up scores of 9.850. The three Cyclones tied and led the vault team.

Ana Irene Palacios competed in her first vault as a Cyclone and scored a 9.700.

The vault line up all put-up scores over a 9.700 or higher making them take the first-place lead by .35 after two rotations.

Vault has continued to be the event the team feels strong on and where they know they will continue to bring great scores.

Bars & Beam wrap it up

Uneven bars has been an event the Cyclones have struggled on but have also continued to improve on.

Ariana Orrego put up a career high and led the Cyclones on bars with a score of a 9.925. Loganne Basuel tied her season high with a 9.875.

Besides one routine with a fall, all bars scores were a 9.750 or above which helped the team to continue to lead the pack by .325 after their third rotation.

Moving into their last event, the balance beam, the Cyclones continued to put up high scores to earn themselves the first-place finish.

Hannah Loyim kicked off the final rotation with a 9.825 while Kelsey Boychuk and Sophia Steinmeyer kept things rolling both with scores of 9.775.

Josie Bergstrom earned a career high with a 9.850 and helped lead the Cyclones to their highest beam score of the season. Along with a season high beam score, the Cyclones also earned a season high on bars.

It’s safe to say that the Iowa State Cyclones had a victorious weekend on the road.

The team will be back in Ames Friday night as they compete against Lindenwood. Competition is set to start at 6:30 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum.

Results (top five scores are counted):

Floor:

Maddie Diab: 9.900

Andrea Maldonado: 9.850

Alondra Maldonado: 9.800

Rachel Wilke: 9.775

Ariana Orrego: 9.675

Laura Cooke: 9.650

Vault:

Josie Bergstrom: 9.850