Big 12 Championship Primer

Who: Iowa State (7-11, 1-5 Big 12) vs. Arizona vs. ASU (10-10, 2-4 Big 12) vs. BYU (6-13, 3-3 Big 12) vs. Utah (12-4, 6-0 Big 12) vs. Denver (13-4, 4-2 Big 12) vs. West Virginia (4-14, 0-6 Big 12)

Where: Maverik Center (8,309) – West Valley City, Utah

When: Saturday, Mar. 22nd, 2025 – 1 p.m. CST

Leading Off: The Cyclones are traveling back to West Valley City, Utah this weekend to compete in the Big 12 Championship. There they will face off against Arizona, ASU, BYU, Utah, Denver and West Virginia.

Iowa State earned its highest team sore of the season last weekend against Nebraska, Temple and Texas Woman's. Several gymnasts scored 9.8 or higher, with Noelle Adams and Haylee Hardin scoring 9.9 on floor. Adams score was her new season high. She also earned a new season high on beam with a 9.85. Sophomore Paige Wills also set a new season high on vault and bars at the Ameritas Master Classic with a 9.8 on both.

The Cyclones are currently ranked 37th on Road to Nationals, and are looking to move up in the rankings this weekend in order to qualify for NCAA Regionals.

The Big 12 Championship will be split into two sessions, an afternoon and an evening. The afternoon will feature Iowa State, BYU and West Virginia in a tri meet format. The evening session will be a quad meet format with Arizona, ASU, Utah and Denver. The afternoon session will begin at 1 p.m. and the evening at 6 p.m.

Storylines:

Freshman Haylee Hardin has won Big 12 Newcomer of the Week three times in a row this season. She owns four 9.9-plus scores this season and has six event titles.

Haylee Hardin made the All-Big 12 Floor team, while both Hardin and Frederique Sgarbossa made the All-Big 12 Freshman team.

The Cyclones are currently ranked 37th on Road to Nationals, 31st on vault and 32nd on floor.

From the Notes:

Iowa State returned 10 gymnasts from last year's squad that made the largest improvement in the country.

ISU has added four freshmen and one transfer for a team of 15.

Noelle Adams and Josie Bergstrom-Te Slaa were both named to the Big 12 Preseason Gymnastics team.

Iowa State's 10 victories last season were tied for the most since it won 20 in 2018.

Sophomore Noelle Adams claimed 14 event titles last year in her freshman campaign. Those 14 titles were the third-most in program history by a first-year gymnast.

As a team, ISU claimed 17 event titles last season.

2025 will mark the first year that Iowa State competes in a conference schedule, as the additions of Arizona, Arizona State and Utah put the conference at seven teams.

Switching Sides to Arizona:

Arizona head coach John Court is in his seventh year, but his 27th on staff.

In pre-season polls the Wildcats were picked to finish 30th.

Four gymnasts from Arizona were selected for the Big 12 Preseason Gymnastics Team.

Switching Sides to ASU:

The Gym Devils have three gymnasts on the 2025 Big 12 Preseason Team. Graduate Jada Mangahas received a nod in the all-around, graduate Sarah Clark is on the beam team and graduate Emily White is honored for both beam and floor.

Jay Santos coaches the team in his ninth season … he has a 54-58-2 all-time record with Arizona State.

Switching Sides to BYU:

BYU head coach Guard Young is in his ninth year at BYU.

He was a part of the 1996-2000 BYU men's gymnastics team, winning six All-American awards and two NCAA National Championships on vault.

In pre-season polls the Cougars were picked to finish 26th.

Three gymnasts from BYU were selected for the Big 12 Preseason Gymnastics Team.

Switching Sides to Utah:

Utah finished fourth among that top-6 ranked quartet at the Sprouts meet, with a season-high 196.800 and earned one event win.

Head coach Carly Dockendorf is in her second season leading the Red Rocks program and her eighth overall with Utah Gymnastics.

In 2024, Dockendorf became the first head coach in NCAA history to lead a team to the Final Four in the coach's first year in the position, earning the highest finish (third place) by any first-year head coach.

Switching Sides to Denver:

Denver head coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart is in her 27th year at Denver.

She was named the 2019 National Head Coach of the Year

In pre-season polls the Pioneers were picked 12th in the preseason polls.

Switching Sides to West Virginia:

West Virginia coach Jason Butts is in his 14th year with the program.

West Virginia is currently ranked 34th on Road to Nationals, 33rd on vault and 31st on floor.

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Players Mentioned

Noelle Adams

Josie Bergstrom-Te Slaa

Haylee Hardin

Frederique Sgarbossa

Paige Wills

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics