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ISU faces uphill battle at Big 12 gym meet
By Dick Kelly
Date Posted: 2008-07-31
Duplicating its best outing of the season probably won't be enough if the Iowa State gymnastics team hopes to win its second Big 12 Conference championship in the past three seasons tonight at the Lloyd Noble Center on the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman, Okla.
ISU, which won the conference title in 2006, but finished fourth a year ago, scored a season-high 195.125 in beating Iowa on Feb. 22 for its only win in 10 meets this season, but that score doesn't come close to those posted by the Cyclones' three opponents in tonight's meet.
Oklahoma, ranked 10th nationally, has posted a 196.750 this season, Missouri, ranked 15th, has a 195.800 to its credit and Nebraska, ranked 16th, boasts a 196.675.
Two factors will play a role in ISU's success - landings and injuries. ISU coach Jay Ronayne said his team has spent most of this week working on landings after determining that those little steps gymnasts occasional take after their landings have cost his team about a point a meet.
"We've taken a hit just about every meet by taking little steps (after landings)," Ronayne said. "If we had three of those on every event, that's over a point that we've given away.
"That's something that we should not be giving away. That's the message we've been giving our athletes all week. If we can take care of that, we're going to score well."
With regard to injuries, Ronayne said ISU is as healthy as it is going to get this season. The Cyclones used just five athletes on floor exercise most of the season because of ankle injuries to freshman Jasmine Swyningan, but Swyningan did compete on floor in the loss to Georgia a week ago and will be available tonight.
"Swyningan is getting better," Ronayne said. "She had a 9.525 against Georgia, and she's been able to push through the pain that she's had and it's not making her ankles worse.
"We're working with what we have. I've been trying to tell the athletes that injuries are never an excuse. Everyone has to deal with little things here and there. Every team has that. We're not special in that regard."
ISU will start the meet on beam, which Ronayne said should help.
"That's the most nerve racking, historically, so to get it out of the way is kind of a good thing," Ronayne said.
ISU scored a season high 48.950 on beam against Nebraska two weeks ago. The score included a 9.825 by junior Jasmine Thompson and a career-high 9.800 by Anna Robey. Co-Captain Ashley Kent also netted a 9.800 in that meet.
ISU's other season highs included a 48.850 on vault, a 48.750 on bars and a 48.975 on floor. Those scores, coupled with the beam score give the Cyclones a potential of 195.525 and even that may not come close to winning the conference title
"The attitudes are pretty good," Ronayne said. "We, at least, are getting it. Whether they will put it into action, they at least are understanding that they can get the work done. We'll see."
Nebraska is the defending champion, but was just 10-4 overall and 3-1 in league competition this season. Oklahoma, coached by former ISU All-American and head coach K.J. Kindler, was unbeaten at 16-0 and Missouri went 9-5 overall and 1-2 in conference meets.
"The key is landings," Ronayne said. "You just can't give away tenths of points over and over and over because it adds up very, very fast. If you don't fix it, you have only yourself to blame."
Tonight's meet will close out the season for ISU unless it qualifies for NCAA Regional competition on April 12. ISU is currently seventh in the North Central Region with a score of 194.250.
By Dick Kelly
Date Posted: 2008-07-31
Duplicating its best outing of the season probably won't be enough if the Iowa State gymnastics team hopes to win its second Big 12 Conference championship in the past three seasons tonight at the Lloyd Noble Center on the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman, Okla.
ISU, which won the conference title in 2006, but finished fourth a year ago, scored a season-high 195.125 in beating Iowa on Feb. 22 for its only win in 10 meets this season, but that score doesn't come close to those posted by the Cyclones' three opponents in tonight's meet.
Oklahoma, ranked 10th nationally, has posted a 196.750 this season, Missouri, ranked 15th, has a 195.800 to its credit and Nebraska, ranked 16th, boasts a 196.675.
Two factors will play a role in ISU's success - landings and injuries. ISU coach Jay Ronayne said his team has spent most of this week working on landings after determining that those little steps gymnasts occasional take after their landings have cost his team about a point a meet.
"We've taken a hit just about every meet by taking little steps (after landings)," Ronayne said. "If we had three of those on every event, that's over a point that we've given away.
"That's something that we should not be giving away. That's the message we've been giving our athletes all week. If we can take care of that, we're going to score well."
With regard to injuries, Ronayne said ISU is as healthy as it is going to get this season. The Cyclones used just five athletes on floor exercise most of the season because of ankle injuries to freshman Jasmine Swyningan, but Swyningan did compete on floor in the loss to Georgia a week ago and will be available tonight.
"Swyningan is getting better," Ronayne said. "She had a 9.525 against Georgia, and she's been able to push through the pain that she's had and it's not making her ankles worse.
"We're working with what we have. I've been trying to tell the athletes that injuries are never an excuse. Everyone has to deal with little things here and there. Every team has that. We're not special in that regard."
ISU will start the meet on beam, which Ronayne said should help.
"That's the most nerve racking, historically, so to get it out of the way is kind of a good thing," Ronayne said.
ISU scored a season high 48.950 on beam against Nebraska two weeks ago. The score included a 9.825 by junior Jasmine Thompson and a career-high 9.800 by Anna Robey. Co-Captain Ashley Kent also netted a 9.800 in that meet.
ISU's other season highs included a 48.850 on vault, a 48.750 on bars and a 48.975 on floor. Those scores, coupled with the beam score give the Cyclones a potential of 195.525 and even that may not come close to winning the conference title
"The attitudes are pretty good," Ronayne said. "We, at least, are getting it. Whether they will put it into action, they at least are understanding that they can get the work done. We'll see."
Nebraska is the defending champion, but was just 10-4 overall and 3-1 in league competition this season. Oklahoma, coached by former ISU All-American and head coach K.J. Kindler, was unbeaten at 16-0 and Missouri went 9-5 overall and 1-2 in conference meets.
"The key is landings," Ronayne said. "You just can't give away tenths of points over and over and over because it adds up very, very fast. If you don't fix it, you have only yourself to blame."
Tonight's meet will close out the season for ISU unless it qualifies for NCAA Regional competition on April 12. ISU is currently seventh in the North Central Region with a score of 194.250.
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