The Iowa women’s gymnastics squad stays hot and strikes a ‘W’ against Nebraska. Oh, and there was an engagement ring involved.

By Mason Clarke
[email protected]

A season-high score of 196.650 and an upset over a conference foe, an individual 9.925 score in an event, and a proposal. All of these happened on one good Feb. 6 for the Iowa women’s gymnastics team.

“It is like the perfect Hawkeye day,” Iowa head coach Larissa Libby said.

Everything in Carver-Hawkeye went right for the Hawkeyes. Despite a hot streak, they were underdogs yet again in a conference dual, and again, they came out on top.

Nebraska sauntered in sporting a No. 14 national ranking and had taken down No. 3 Michigan in its most recent meet.

Each team had momentum, and the Hawkeyes’ proved to be a force strong enough to derail the Husker train.

Iowa began the day on vault, which was the Hawkeyes’ worst event of the meet. Nebraska also began with what would be its lowest score, on the uneven bars. After one event, the GymHawks held a 49.025 to 49.000 lead.

Iowa went to uneven bars next, where all five of their scored gymnasts perfectly stuck their landings and hit 9.825 or better. Halfway through the meet, the Hawkeye lead was 98.225 to 98.125.

With just a 0.100 team lead, the Hawkeyes began the beam with their two lowest individual scores of the night to that point, including one fall.

They did not waver, however; the next four gymnasts for Iowa hit 9.800 or better.

Junior Mollie Drenth led those who closed out the beam strongly, hitting a gaudy 9.925.

“I felt really good about it,” she said. “After, I just wanted to keep the intensity going through all events to help the team out.”

Heading into the final event, Iowa’s lead over Nebraska was just 0.125. Then, the Hawkeyes’ first gymnast on the floor routine stepped out of bounds, causing a deduction that put the pressure on the remaining five gymnasts whose scores would all need to count.

They delivered.

The floor wound up as the top event score of the night for Iowa. Junior Angel Metcalf scored a 9.900, and senior Alie Glover closed the meet out for the Hawkeyes with her score of 9.875.

When the dust, or chalk in this case, had cleared, the score stood 196.650-196.350, Iowa on top.

Things were only about to get better for the ecstatic GymHawks. Individual and team awards were announced, and once they had completed, one more gymnast’s name was called to step forward.

Senior Johanny Sotillo, whose beam and uneven bars performances helped lead Iowa to victory, stepped up with a smile she never stops wearing.

Her boyfriend, former Hawkeye football player Quinton Alston, got down on one knee and proposed to her in front of a jubilant Carver-Hawkeye crowd.

She said yes, and she was more than surprised.

“I’m super excited. I can’t even. I was really hungry, and now I’m not. I don’t know,” Sotillo said. “I did not know anything [about this].”

The GymHawks had themselves a day.

Follow @makeclarson for Iowa gymnastics updates, news, and analysis.