Cyclones Finish Regular Season At Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Kentucky - The Iowa State gymnastics team finished the regular season with a 194.825 at Kentucky. Freshman Sydney Converse had a strong meet, leading the team on both vault and floor exercise. The Cyclones strongest event of the night came on the uneven bars, where they scored a 48.875, their best score on the event in six meets. The Cyclones finished the meet in second place with a 194.825, coming in behind Kentucky who scored a 196.275.

“Some meets are officiated differently,” head coach Jay Ronayne commented. “It's fair, because the right team won, Kentucky did a great job. We did a pretty good job too, but our score doesn't reflect that. The way we are compared to other teams in all areas of the country makes it hard to determine what is a fair and accurate score for our performance.”

Vault
Sydney Converse led the team on vault for the first time this season with a 9.775, tying for third at the meet. Meaghan Sievers, the usual leader on the event, came in close behind her with a 9.750. Sara Townsend and Haylee Young both recorded 9.725's, and Alex Marasco contributed a 9.600. As a team, the Cyclones earned a 48.575 on the event.

Volunteer coach Danielle Guider:
“We have a lot of work we still have to do to get where we want to be on vault, but I'm very happy with the way Haylee Young and Sydney Converse performed tonight.”

Uneven Bars
The Cyclones started the meet in the lead with a 48.875 on the uneven bars. Freshman Meaghan Sievers brought in the highest score on the event with a 9.825, taking third on the event at the meet. Hilary Green brought in the next highest score for Iowa State, recording a 9.800. Three Cyclones scored 9.750's to contribute to the team score.

Balance Beam
Alex Marasco earned first place at the meet on balance beam with her 9.875! Haylee Young took third place with a 9.800. Sydney Converse also earned a nice score for the Cyclones with her 9.750 on balance beam. Hilary Green brought in the next highest score with a 9.675, and Sammie Pearsall contributed a 9.625 to bring the team score to 48.725.

Assistant coach Katie Minasola:
“I was very pleased with the way that they finished the meet with a strong performance on beam. They weren't our normal beam routines, but we had some good fights in there. We stuck five out of six dismounts and had all made routines. I was happy with that, but I'm definitely looking forward to improving for Big 12's.”

Floor Exercise
Sydney Converse led the team on floor exercise at Friday's meet with a 9.800. Three Cyclones tied for the next-highest score on the team with a 9.725. Courtney Middelkoop, Meaghan Sievers, and Haylee Young all earned the score to help bring the team score to 48.650 on the event. Sammie Pearsall also contributed a 9.675 on floor.

Assistant coach Kristen Maloney:
“It wasn't our best showing on the floor exercise tonight. I'm very happy with the way that Sydney Converse competed, she did a great job stepping in for her teammates. But, we still have a lot of work to do.”

All-Around
Meaghan Sievers and Haylee Young both participated in the all-around competition for Iowa State. Young finished the meet in third place all-around with a 39.000. Sievers earned a 38.700 for her all-around score.

Up Next
The Cyclones will be heading to Frisco, Texas to compete in the Big 12 Championships next weekend. Iowa State will be competing against Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Denver. The meet will begin at 5 p.m. next Saturday.

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Players Mentioned

Sydney Converse

Hilary Green

Alex Marasco

Courtney Middelkoop

Sammie Pearsall

Meaghan Sievers

Sara Townsend

Haylee Young

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