The ISU gymnastics team has successfully executed the recipe for success in its past two performances, winning two straight meets. 

Coming off two straight home wins, the Cyclones have a chance to bring that momentum on the road in Shreveport, La., to face Centenary and Texas Woman’s University.

The team has proven it has the ability to obtain a win against its upcoming opponents. But it is crucial for the team to fix mistakes that have given the competition a chance to win, even after dominating certain events.

Last week, Iowa State’s trouble on the vault landings ended up being the difference maker in how close the meet was through the final event.

“We had a great vault, but we need to work on sticking them because that’s the difference in the top 18 and where we are now.” said sophomore Haylee Young. “The difference between the top 18 and where we are now is so small, so we just need to work on the little things like that.”

Looking forward, the Cyclones have made it a priority to fix the area on the vault that has held them back from progressing their game. Vault coach Danielle Guider put a large emphasis on their landings at Monday’s practice.

“We really tried to focus on our landings in practice a lot more,” Guider said. “Getting our chest up and trying not to move our feet when we land and really just trying to key on those landings and apply that in the meet.” 

Guider is confident that the team has put attention to all parts of the vault and expects to see improvements in the upcoming meet.

“I’m hoping that there is [improvement],” Guider said. “We are really trying too hard in the gym to do that and I’m hoping it will transfer over to the meet. It’ll definitely help them in the long run.” 

Despite the attention to detail, the Cyclones have turned their season around to obtain a 3-2 record. 

In the upcoming tri-meet, the Cyclones will come face-to-face with the 6-1 Centenaries and the winless Texas Woman’s University. The Centenaries are ranked in the top 25 and the Cyclones are ranked 35th. Fortunately for Iowa State, the margin between the Cyclones and the top 25 is attainable at the rate they are currently going.

“Our confidence is coming up,” Young said. “We know how good we can be and now that we are starting to show it a little bit and have gotten a little taste of it. We definitely are excited to have a little more confidence, but we are approaching it that we need do a lot better.”

Freshman Sydney Converse has some history with a gymnast the Cyclones are competing against, but nonetheless will approach the meet as any other.

“One of my old teammates is at Texas Woman’s,” Converse said. “I don’t know much about either of the teams, but I think we are just going to go into the meet aggressive as usual and just do our job.”