Cyclones Hit A 196.125 At Texas Woman's

DENTON, Texas - In their second meet of the weekend, the Iowa State gymnastics team competed at Texas Woman's University, topping their then season-high score against No. 1 Oklahoma from Friday with a 196.125. The score marked the highest the Iowa State has gotten since the 2014 Regional Competition in Baton Rouge, La.

The Cyclones also tied for the fourth-highest team balance beam score in school history with a 49.425. The balance beam squad was led by junior Haylee Young, who earned a career-high 9.925 on the event. She was followed by freshman Casandra Diaz who earned herself a 9.900 on the event, the first time a freshman has hit a 9.900 on beam since Young at the 2014 Beauty and the Beast. The incredible team highs helped lift the Cyclones over the Pioneers, who earned a team score of 194.650.

"I was very happy with our results today," head coach Jay Ronayne said. "Coming in after having a competition two days ago, getting on a plane, traveling and everything that comes with that. Coming out of here with a W, that's a wonderful thing. We're making some great improvements; every meet is a little better. We still have room for growth, and that's incredibly encouraging. We have a great team that's going to be even better if we continue on this path."

Balance Beam
Iowa State finished the meet on balance beam, solidifying their win with a 49.425. Young hit a nearly flawless routine to earn a career-high 9.925, earning first place at the meet. Following her was Diaz, who impressed the judges and the team with a career-high 9.900 routine, earning herself a second-place finish. MJ Johnson hit her career-high as well with a 9.875. Kelsey Paz also hit a 9.875 to help the team tie for the fourth-highest beam score in school history.

"I'm so please with balance beam today," associate head coach Katie Minasola said. "We had a great energy through the whole meet, and to finish on beam is really tough. The girls pulled it out, they were solid. I felt like they were just as polished as Friday but they stayed on the beam and we stuck more dismounts. So I couldn't be prouder of this team today and to finish like that on beam was just a cherry on top."

Uneven Bars
Briana Ledesma started the meet strong for Iowa State, earning a career-high 9.900 on uneven bars in the first rotation. This helped the Cyclones to their highest uneven bars score of the season, a 49.125, and earned her first place at the meet. Also helping Iowa State to its season-high score was Hilary Green's 9.850, her best performance on the event this season. Coming in right behind the two season-highs was Meaghan Sievers with a 9.825. Kelsey Paz and Haylee Young rounded out the scoring routines with two 9.775's.

"It felt amazing to hit the 9.900. I just love Texas and whenever I come here I get an extra boost," San Antonio native Ledesma said. "As far as the team goes, this is really what we've been training to be and to finally do it is beyond words.

Floor Exercise
Young led the Cyclones on floor exercise, filling in the final spot of the lineup with a 9.875. Coming in with the next highest score was Green, who hit a nice routine to earn a 9.825. Ledesma recorded a 9.800 and was followed by Courtney Middelkoop with a 9.700. Both Casandra Diaz and Kelsey Paz earned 9.675 to bring the team score to a 48.875.

"Floor wasn't even our best today," Young admitted. "We had a few uncharacteristic mistakes. Everyone was just too hyped up and over tumbled a bit. That just goes to show we didn't even get our best score and we still got our season high team score so there's so much room to improve and I'm really excited for the rest of the season."

Vault
The Cyclones are still looking to improve on vault, scoring a 48.700 on the event at Sunday's meet. Young led the team with her 9.850, her season-high on the event. Sophomore Kelly Martin brought in the next highest score for the team with her 9.750, impressing the judges after a shaky warm-up. Martin followed by two 9.725's from Johnson and Paz. Ledesma also contributed to the team score with a 9.675. Surprisingly missing from the scoring vaults was NCAA Championship qualifier Sievers, who came short on her landing resulting in a 9.400.

"We had a surprise today," Ronayne commented. "Meaghan messed up, she was really trying to stick her landing and in that chase she came short, that's going to happen. She's going to learn from it. She has the potential to be the best vaulter in the country, but that's a process.

All-Around
Juniors Young and Paz both competed in the all-around competition against Texas Woman's University. Young finished the meet in first place with a 39.400. Paz finished in third with a career-high 39.050.

Up Next
The Cyclones return home after a busy weekend to host a tri-meet with Centenary and Southeast Missouri. The meet will be in Hilton Coliseum on Friday night at 6:30 p.m.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Casandra Diaz

Hilary Green

Briana Ledesma

Kelly Martin

Courtney Middelkoop

Kelsey Paz

Meaghan Sievers

Haylee Young

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