When the Iowa men’s gymnastics team competed at the Black and Gold intrasquad matchup on Dec. 6, they had the demeanor of a team in contention.
In other words, they were impressive. Fifth year coach JD Reive went as far as to say it was the best Black and Gold meet since he became took the helm.
"I was very pleased with how they performed," Reive said. "They did the same things they’re doing in practice, and that consistency is crucial. Even the mistakes need to be consistent so we’re doing the same things."
Both consistent and uncharacteristic mistakes were visible throughout the meet, despite the team’s overall impressive showing.
"I’m happy with some of our performances, I know we can do better though," junior Cyrus Dobre-Mofid said. "We had a lot of weird falls, and some normal falls, too. So we know what we need to work on."
Sophomore Mark Springett struggled on his floor routine, falling twice and scoring just a 12.4 — the lowest individual score on the afternoon.
Issues on the vault plagued the team as well, as they are still working out the kinks of a tougher routine—one they hope will give them an edge in Big Ten competition.
"What we did was kind of throw that risk out there and see how they handled it," Reive said. "We have a fall back plan for a simpler routine, but right now we’re trying to make that step into a team that’s competitive at the top level and not going to settle."
Reive was impressed with the composure of Springett as he bounced back to finish his routine on a strong note. He also is not overly concerned about issues with the pommel horse event, where multiple Hawkeyes fell during their routine.
"We have a great pommel horse team in there," Reive said. "They can’t fall, that’s all there is to it, and they’re going to need to do another 200 routines before Jan. 17."
The team also had issues on the high bar, an event that figures to be a strong point for the Hawkeyes this season.
But when they fell, the gymnasts got up and finished their routines. And when they scored high, their composed reactions were indicative of the team’s high expectations for the season.
Reive is also confident the mistakes will be easy to analyze and focus on before their season opener on Jan. 17, 2015 at the Windy City Invitational in Chicago.
To redshirt senior Lance Alberhasky, the mistakes made at the Black and Gold meet are essential to the team’s improvement going forward.
"Coming into the Black and Gold, you want to have a good meet," Alberhasky said. "But you want to have mistakes, too, so you can fix them and stay hungry for the season."
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