Cyclones Earn Season-High Event Scores At Illinois

CHAMPAIGN, Illinois - Iowa State earned season-high event scores on vault and balance beam to earn its' highest road meet score of the season with a 195.625. Freshman Meaghan Sievers earned her career-high with an outstanding 9.925 on vault, the Iowa State individual high score of the season, to bring in the team's 49.050 on the event. Alex Marasco tied a career-high on beam, scoring a 9.875 along with Haylee Young to lead the team to their 49.025, tying the season-high score this season.

The Cyclones came in second place at the meet to No. 24 Illinois, 196.525-195.625.

Head coach Jay Ronayne commented after the meet, “I really am encouraged by the way the team kept it together and stayed focused on their goal. I really feel like they're on their way.”

Vault
Iowa State earned a season-high 49.000 team score on vault. Freshman Meaghan Sievers made her way into the Iowa State record books with an amazing vault to earn a 9.925, making her one of just 18 Cyclone gymnasts in history to earn the score. Sydney Converse was another freshman earning a career-high at the meet, recording the second highest score of the night on the event with a 9.825. Kelly Martin tied her career-high and matched sophomore Briana Ledesma's score on vault with a 9.775. Haylee Young also contributed with a 9.750 to help the team to their season-high score.

Volunteer assistant coach Danielle Guider:
“I thought vault was awesome. We had a lot of great landings this week, and we can still be even better.”

Balance Beam
Alex Marasco and Haylee Young both earned 9.875's on balance beam on the way to the Cyclones tying their season-high on the event. This tied Marasco's career-high on the event, making it the third time she's earned the score in her career. Kelsey Paz and Meaghan Sievers both performed well on beam, each putting up a 9.775. Sammie Pearsall contributed a 9.725 on the event to help the team to their season-high, a 49.025.

Assistant coach Katie Minasola:
“Starting off with a fall wasn't ideal. I thought the last four in the line-up did a great job of stepping up and doing their job. We hit a good score, we hit above a 49. That's always our goal is to hit and to go above a 49. We've just got to keep pushing to continue improving.”

Floor Exercise
Iowa State had three gymnasts record 9.825's to lead the team to a 48.925 on floor. Kelsey Paz, Meaghan Sievers, and Haylee Young all hit excellent routines to earn 9.825's. This tied Sievers' career-high on the event. Courtney Middelkoop earned a 9.750, and Briana Ledesma contributed a 9.700 to help the team to a 48.925.

Assistant coach Kristen Maloney:
“It wasn't their best outing. There were some uncharacteristic mistakes. I'm looking forward to getting back in the gym and working on those little issues we had.”

Uneven Bars
The Cyclones started off their meet against Illinois with a 48.625 on the uneven bars. Hilary Green earned the highest score on the event for Iowa State with a 9.825. Haylee Young came in close behind Green with a 9.800 for the Cyclones' second best score. Meaghan Sievers earned a 9.750, Sammie Pearsall a 9.650, and Briana Ledesma contributed a 9.600 to bring the team score to 48.625.

Head coach Jay Ronayne:
“As soon as we stick some landings, we're going to be in the game for the whole meet. To start the meet four-tenths behind because of landings is something we're going to have to take care of right away.”

All-Around
Meaghan Sievers and Haylee Young both competed in the all-around competition for Iowa State. Sievers tied for second place at the meet with a 39.275, her career-high in the all-around. Haylee Young also put up a nice all-around score with a 39.250.

Up Next
The Cyclones return to Hilton Coliseum to take on in-state rivals the Iowa Hawkeyes next Friday night at 6:30 p.m. The meet is part of the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series.

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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