Freshman Shealy Qualifies for National Competition

STATS

ANN ARBOR, Mich. ? The No. 21 Iowa State gymnastics team competed at the NCAA Regional competition Saturday night and Cyclone freshman Michelle Shealy is moving onto the National competition. Shealy placed fifth overall in the All-Around, which was enough to qualify for the NCAA Championships in Cleveland, Ohio. The top two all-arounders that are not from a qualifying team advanced to Nationals.

“She deserves it,” Iowa State head coach Jay Ronayne said. “The thing that's even better is she's going to be better than what she is this year.”

Shealy posted a 9.700 on bars and a 9.775 on beam before the Cyclones entered their bye rotation. Coming out of the bye, Iowa State was re-energized, including the Snellville, Ga., native who tallied a 9.850 on floor. Shealy posted a 9.725 to round out the Cyclones' final event on vault.

“It's exciting to know what the future holds for us,” Ronayne said. “For right now we're enjoying that we have a Cyclone going to the national championship. Having someone there to represent Iowa State is really exciting.”

Shealy will compete Friday, April 14 at the Wolstein Center and will have the chance to qualify for event finals on Sunday, April 16. The last time an ISU freshman qualified for Nationals in the All-Around was in 2003 when Erin Dethloff advanced.

As a team, Iowa State posted a season-high score on vault of 48.900. The Cyclones were fueled by senior Jody McKellar's 9.850, which was a career-high for the Calgary, Alberta native. With her score, McKellar placed fourth overall on the apparatus and made her final performance in Cardinal and Gold a personal best.

“With the potential for it to be the last meet of the season, it's a very emotional time and keeping emotions in check is the hardest thing for seniors,” Ronayne said. “Jody was the best I've seen her.”

McKellar also posted a 9.850 on bars, the Cyclones' first event of the night, and took home fifth place on the apparatus.
“Jody was very excited and repeatedly told me she was not nervous and that's rare,” Ronayne said. “I'm so proud of her for just letting herself do what she can do and she gets a personal best.”

Also tallying a personal best on Saturday was freshman Milan Ivory, who posted a 9.775 on vault in just her second time competing on the apparatus. Cyclones Shea Anderson and Michelle Browning both tied their season-highs on events in the regional. Anderson posted a 9.750 on beam, with Browning tallying a 9.875 on floor.

As a team Iowa State placed sixth in the Ann Arbor Regional with a total team score of 194.800. Michigan took first (197.075) and Kent State placed second (195.450). The Wolverines and the Golden Flashes will advance to the National Championships. Ohio State took third (195.350) and Minnesota and Stanford tied for fourth (195.225).

“We did everything except for start the meet off right,” Ronayne said. “It's encouraging to know we can do well on the other events after making a mistake like we had on bars. I feel like the team did its job after the mistake and having to count a fall on bars.”

Joanna Sampson of Michigan won the vault title with a 9.900. Jordan Sexton, also of Michigan, won the bars event with a score of 9.900 and tied with teammate Trish Wilson for the title. Rebecca Best of Ohio State took home the beam title, after tallying a 9.900 on the apparatus. Kylee Botterman of Michigan took home the floor title (9.925) along with the All-Around title with a combined score of 39.500.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Shea Anderson

Shea Anderson

Shea Anderson

Michelle Browning

Michelle Browning

Michelle Browning

Milan Ivory

Milan Ivory

Jody McKellar

Jody McKellar

Michelle Shealy

Michelle Shealy

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics