After last-minute schedule changes, the Iowa women’s gymnastics team was able to win a tri-meet against No. 14 Minnesota and New Hampshire on Feb. 28 in Minneapolis.

“We were stuck; we couldn’t get to California and couldn’t afford to just drop a meet. We are very grateful to Minnesota that they allowed us the option to compete,” head coach Larissa Libby in a release. “Everything leading up to the meet was so stressful, so for the girls to show up and be on their game was fantastic.”

The Hawks started off strong on beam, on which sophomore Angel Metcalf took second place with a score of 9.875. Metcalf also took fourth place on vault with a score of 9.825 and second in the all-around with a score of 39.325.

Moving to floor, junior Alie Glover, sophomore Mollie Drenth, and Metcalf finished fifth, sixth, and seventh, respectively.

Iowa took the lead after the second rotation with a score of 97.925. New Hampshire (97.500) followed closely in second and Minnesota (96.975) in third.

The Hawks ended the night on bars, on which freshman Melissa Zurawski tallied the final season best of the night, posting a 9.850, which was good enough to take fourth place in the event.

“It was hard all night. I thought they did a really great job sticking together. The attitude and effort they put towards finishing tonight was exceptional,” Libby said in a release. “It was hard for all of us. As an athlete, I couldn’t event imagine going through all of that and trying the way they did. I thought they did an amazing job rising to the occasion.”

— by Alexandria Griffin