Iowa State University Athletics
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Iowa State Travels to Norman for the Big 12 Championships
03.22.2024 | Gymnastics
Who: No. 36 Iowa State (8-12, 2-2 Big 12) vs No. 1 Oklahoma (25-0, 4-0 Big 12), No. 8 Denver (19-2, 4-2 Big 12), No. 33 BYU (9-13, 1-3 Big 12), and West Virginia (8-15, 0-4 Big 12)
Where: Lloyd Nobel Arena (10,151) – Norman, Okla.
When: Friday, Mar. 23, 2024 – 5:45 p.m.
Leading Off: No. 36 Iowa State will head to Oklahoma to compete in the Big 12 Championships. This is a huge meet for the Cyclones as they are looking to secure a spot at regionals.
The Cyclones will look to bounce back after they failed to get to the 196 mark last time out in Florida. They currently sit right on the cut line as they head into their last meet before the regions are announced. Last season ISU placed 4th at this event and will look to improve upon that. They will be seeing top ranked Oklahoma as they are the hosts for their final time competing in the Big 12 Championships.
Iowa State had a very good start in their past meet where they saw a new season high score on the floor. The team earned a 49.400 led by Ella Schell scoring a new career high of 9.95. ISU is going to need more of that as it will lead to them feeling safe at the conclusion of the meet. They were also able to have a strong beam rotation with their score accumulating to 49.175. This was led by their anchor Lauren Thomas with her routine scoring a 9.875. The Cyclones have taken a massive leap forward of late on this event with Thomas and Rachel Wilke are big reasons why.
Storylines:
- Iowa State placed third in the Florida quad meet with their score of 195.825.
- ISU will be in control of their own destiny as they will be the last to compete of the teams on the bubble.
- Rachel Wilke has become a huge member of the beam team as she picked up her second 9.85 in a row.
- Iowa State will be looking to bounce back from their past meet. They will need to score at least 196.250 to top Iowa. And a 196.700 to make sure they are ahead of both them and George Washington for that final regional spot.
From the Notes:
- Noelle Adams picked up her second straight 9.925 on floor.
- ISU comes into this week ranked 36th. They need to continue these strong performances to create some cushion between them and the 36th ranking.
- Iowa State picked up a new season high score on floor of 49.400. This also marked a new season high for any event.
- This was led by Ella Schell's 9.95.
- The Cyclones top event this year has been vault where they come in ranked 28th.
Switching Sides to the Sooners:
- Head Coach KJ Kindler is entering her 17th year at the helm of Oklahoma gymnastics.
- Oklahoma comes into this meet ranked 1st nationally. They are ranked 1st in vault, beam, bars and come in ranked 2nd on floor.
- The Sooner are coming in off their best meet of the season where they set a new program record of 198.775.
- OU is the best team ISU will face this season and they are led by Jordan Bowers who averages 9.95 on both floor and bars.
Switching Sides to the Pioneers:
- Head Coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart is entering her 26th year at the helm of Denver gymnastics.
- Denver comes into this meet ranked No. 8 on Road to Nationals. Their top event is bars where they come in at No. 5.
- The Pioneers are one of the top teams in the country. Their top score is a 198.025 which they scored in early March.
- Denver is led by Jessica Hutchinson with her 39.672 all around average score
- Rinehart brought in four freshmen to pair with their 11 returnees.
Switching Sides to the Mountaineers:
- Head Coach Jason Butts is entering his 13th season at the helm of West Virginia.
- WVU comes in ranked 51st on RTN. Their top event is the floor where they are 43rd in the country.
- Their top score of the year is 196.000 which they got in their most recent event.
- This will be the final meet for the Mountaineers this season. They are currently 8-15.
- Butts brought in six freshmen to pair up with their 12 returnees.
Switching Sides to BYU:
- Head Coach Guard Young is entering his 9th year at the helm of BYU and this season will mark their first time that they will compete in the Big 12.
- BYU comes into this meet ranked No. 33 on Road to Nationals. They are ranked 30th on both vault and beam.
- The Cougars have a season high of 197.000 in meet against Southern Utah on March 4th.
- BYU is led by their beam specialist Brynlee Anderson who averages a 9.863 on that event.
- Young brought in 9 freshmen to pair with their 16 returnees.
Players Mentioned
