The Iowa men’s gymnastics team finished sixth out of six teams in the first session of the NCAA Qualifier, but three Hawkeyes earned their way to today’s NCAA championships.
Iowa posted a team score of 336.650, and the highlights of the day came from three members of Iowa’s junior class. Javier Balboa had an all-around score of 84.100, fewer than 1 point shy of his season-best mark. Balboa capped his day with a fourth-place finish on the parallel bars. He finished fifth on the all-around in Iowa’s session but had the top score from members of non-advancing teams.
Brody Shemansky also advanced on the all-around with a 80.400 score, the third-highest of gymnasts not from Michigan, Penn State, or Stanford.
Iowa’s third qualifier, Anton Gryshayev, placed third on his signature event, the still rings. Gryshayev’s 14.900 advanced him to the NCAA Championships for the second year in a row.
Balboa, Shemansky, and Gryshayev will compete at 7 p.m. today in the all-around and team finals. A top-10 placement in an event would send the gymnast to Saturday’s competition, where the top eight athletes in each event are named All-Americans.
— by Ryan Murphy