Cyclones Score 195.075 To Take Second At Home

AMES, Iowa - The Iowa State gymnastics team earned a 195.075 to earn second place against Minnesota (195.525) and Air Force (190.200) on Friday night. Haylee Young tied her career high on floor with a 9.900 and Alex Marasco brought in a strong score on beam with a 9.850 to help lead the Cyclones to their third highest team score this season. The team will have a quick turnaround as they will be competing in a quad meet in Hilton Coliseum this coming Sunday.

“I'm actually really excited for Sunday,” head coach Jay Ronayne said. “I feel like this was almost a warm up. I'm really encouraged and the team is fired up. We know we can be better than this and we can't wait to prove that on Sunday.”

Floor Exercise
Sophomore Haylee Young tied her career-high on floor with a 9.900 at Friday's meet, making it the fifth time in her career that she's recorded a 9.900 on the event. Her performance earned her first place in the meet on the event. Briana Ledesma and Courtney Middelkoop also brought in impressive scores on floor exercise, each receiving a 9.800 from the judges. Bringing in two 9.775's for the Cyclones were Meaghan Sievers and Kelsey Paz, driving the team score on floor to a 49.050.

Assistant coach Kristen Maloney:
“I thought they did well on floor today. I'm really proud of they way they've been very consistent on floor this season. They keep surprising me with how consistent they're being, so I'm really happy for them.”

Vault
The Cyclones started the meet off on vault for their first rotation, earning a team score of 48.800. Haylee Young earned her highest score of the season on the event, recording a 9.825 after a stick. Meaghan Sievers, the team's usual leader on the event, received a 9.800 and brought in the second highest score for Iowa State. Three more Cyclone gymnasts earned a 9.700 or above, with Kelly Martin earning a career-high 9.750, Briana Ledesma receiving a 9.725, and Sydney Converse recording a 9.700.

Volunteer assistant coach Danielle Guider:
“I thought vault went okay tonight. It wasn't our best, but there were some highlights in there. I though Kelly [Martin] did a great job on controlling her landing this week, and Haylee [Young] came in clutch with a stuck landing, I thought that was great.”

Balance Beam
Alex Marasco led the Cyclones on balance beam with a 9.850, earning her second place and the Mari-Rae Sopper Outstanding Performance Award for the meet. Haylee Young brought in the next highest score on the apparatus with a 9.825. Meaghan Sievers contributed a 9.775 with her beam routine. Sydney Converse earned a 9.650 and Sammie Pearsall recorded a 9.625 to help bring the team balance beam score to 48.725.

Volunteer assistant coach Katie Minasola:
“I'm very pleased that everyone stayed on the beam, they fought really hard. They had a few things here and there that we have to fix for Sunday. I was very happy with Alex [Marasco]'s performance as well as Haylee [Young]'s. Also Meaghan Sievers, I changed her routine this week and she scored a career high, so that was great! I'm really looking forward to improving on Sunday.”

Uneven Bars
Hilary Green and Meaghan Sievers led Iowa State on the uneven bars during the second rotation of the meet, each scoring a 9.825. The two have been the Cyclone's top performers this season, both having earned career-high 9.900's in the team's first home meet of the season against Lindenwood and NC State. Briana Ledesma brought in the next highest score on bars with a 9.700. Sammie Pearsall and Kelsey Paz also contributed to help the team to a 48.500 uneven bars score.

Head coach Jay Ronayne:
“Two uncharacteristic things happened on uneven bars tonight. Kelsey Paz got stuck and had to drag her feet, which was a half a point. It never happens, not even in practice. And then Haylee [Young] missing her release never happens, it never happens in practice. So that surprised everybody, and that it happened on the same night was really unfortunate. Otherwise, our squad did great holding it together, it could've gone south and it didn't.”

All-Around
Iowa State had three all-around competitors on Friday in Meaghan Sievers, Haylee Young, and Kelsey Paz. Sievers lead the way, placing second in the meet with a 39.175. Despite scoring a 9.900 on floor, a missed release on the uneven bars left Young with a 38.550 at the end of the meet. Kelsey Paz brought in a 38.450 for her all-around score for Iowa State.

Up Next
The Cyclones will be right back in Hilton Coliseum this Sunday to host a quad meet. Iowa State will be hosting No. 14 Nebraska, NC State, and UW-La Cross at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday.

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Players Mentioned

Sydney Converse

Hilary Green

Briana Ledesma

Alex Marasco

Kelly Martin

Courtney Middelkoop

Kelsey Paz

Sammie Pearsall

Meaghan Sievers

Haylee Young

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics