Haylee Young advances to NCAA gymnastics National Championship

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Emily Blobaum/Iowa State Daily

Sophomore Haylee Young celebrates the Cyclones’ narrow 196.025-196.0 victory over the Hawkeyes with freshman Meaghan Sievers March 4. 

Austin Anderson

The Iowa State gymnastics season has come to an end as a team after failing to finish in the top two at regionals in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Saturday.

Junior Haylee Young’s season, however, will see a few more weeks after she moved on to compete at the NCAA National Championship as an all-around competitor.

The Cyclones finished in sixth place out of six teams at regionals to conclude their season as a team. LSU and Nebraska were the two teams to advance to the national championship.

“I’m very proud of the team for showing their character today,” coach Jay Ronayne said in Iowa State’s post-game press release. “To be dealt a hand where they’re a half a point in the hole to start a meet and to fight all the way through five rotations, I’m very proud of them. They easily could have hung their heads and given up, but they didn’t.

The Cyclones got off to a less-than-stellar start to the meet with two falls in the first two routines on the balance beam. Young tied for the team’s high score with junior Hilary Green, both recording a 9.800.

Young’s score of 9.900 in the Cyclones’ second event, the floor exercise, was her highest score of the night, and the finish tied her for second overall on the floor.

“I’m super excited just because of how hard I’ve worked all year,” Young said in the release. “The whole team has worked so hard and I wish more of them were coming with me. I’m honestly not that happy with my performance today, it wasn’t my best, but I’m glad that I was able to go.”

The Cyclones finished the meet with their best score of the night on the uneven bars, a 49.025.

Young’s 9.750 on the bars put her final all-around score at 39.175, clinching her spot at nationals.

Young will compete at the gymnastics championships at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis on April 14 and 15.