Cyclones Outscore No. 14 GW In Quad Meet

COLUMBIA, Mo.- The No. 25 Iowa State gymnastics took second place in its first quad meet of 2017. ISU left the meet with a 195.350, outscoring both No. 14 George Washington and Lindenwood. Highlights of the meet included the team's season-high vault score with a 49.000, including several season-highs on the event, and junior Haylee Young's fourth 9.900 of the season on floor. No. 13 Missouri ended up taking first place at the meet with a 195.700, George Washington took third with a 194.350, and Lindenwood finished in fourth with 194.100.

"Overall, I'm pleased," head coach Jay Ronayne said. "We've been trying to keep the focus all on us. We did a pretty good job today of staying focused on us and improving our landings. Everything we've been working on in the gym. Beam was a little shakier than it has been, but we can't be perfect every time. I've very encouraged with the effort put in by the team and the performance we got out of it."

Vault
The Cyclones earned their highest vault score of the season on Friday with a 49.000. Several Iowa State gymnasts earned season-high scores, including Haylee Young, who recorded a 9.850 to earn the highest score on the event. Meaghan Sievers came in close behind Young with a 9.825, tying her season-high. Kelsey Paz also earned a 9.825, earning a new season-high and tying her career-high. Kelly Martin hit a 9.775 for the next highest score, followed by MJ Johnson with a career-high tying 9.725.

"We've been working on landings on all of the events," Ronayne said. "That was the focus of today. On vault, in particular, we stuck more landings that we have this season. That's been the thing that's been missing. That's what we improved upon for today. We know we've got some really good vaults, and I think the team understands that now."

Floor
Iowa State's 48.950 on floor helped pull the team from third to second place in the third rotation. Leading Iowa State was Young, who scored her fourth 9.900 of the season on floor, earning first place at the meet. Bringing in the next highest score on the event was Kelsey Paz, who hit her double layout on the event for the second week in a row. Courtney Middelkoop scored a 9.775 to bring in the third-highest score. Molly Russ and Briana Ledesma both hit 9.725's to help the Cyclones earn their 48.950.

"I think we did really well as a team tonight, coming off of bars and beam which weren't as high-scoring as they have been the last couple of weeks," Young said. "We used our frustration of not feeling we were scored as well as we should've been to fuel us going into the final two events."

Uneven Bars
The highest score on the uneven bars for ISU came from Hilary Green with a 9.850, tying her 2017 season-high and earning first place at the meet. Sievers impressed to bring in the next-best score for Iowa State with a 9.800. Following the two top scorers was MJ Johnson, who hit a 9.775 to tie her career-high on the event. All-arounders Young and Paz hit a 9.750 and 9.650 to round out the scoring for Iowa State and help the team score to a 48.825.

"I think we did really well," Green stated. "We weren't happy with some of the scoring, but we were able to feed off of that and use that disappointment to fuel our performances. We want to prove ourselves and show that we can do better."

Balance Beam
Young earned the Cyclones' highest score of the night on the balance beam with a 9.825. Several balance checks across the board affected Iowa State, but the team was able to pull through without any falls on the event. Green earned the second-highest score on the event with a 9.775, followed by Paz who earned a 9.700. Casandra Diaz and Sievers rounded out the scoring with a 9.650 and 9.625, respectively. The Cyclones finished the event with a team score of 48.575.

"I was pleased with the fight that the team had on beam today," associate head coach Katie Minasola said. "We stayed on despite a few wobbles. Obviously, that's something we want to work on going into next week. Haylee wrapped it up with a great beam routine. I was also very pleased with Molly Russ's performance in exhibition. We just need to work more on the details moving forward.

All-Around
Young and Paz were the Cyclones two all-around competitors in Friday night's meet, both giving strong performances to come in first and third, respectively, in the meet. They both also came close to their season-high all-around scores, Young with a 39.325, and Paz with a 39.000.

Up Next
The Cyclones will be returning home for the final time this season next Friday to take on Illinois State and Gustavus Aldophus. The meet will be in Hilton Coliseum and will begin at 6:30 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Casandra Diaz

Hilary Green

Briana Ledesma

Kelly Martin

Courtney Middelkoop

Kelsey Paz

Molly Russ

Meaghan Sievers

Haylee Young

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics