By Jess Westendorf
Iowa’s No. 22 women’s gymnastics team takes on twice the challenge this weekend, traveling to No. 20 George Washington today and No. 2 LSU on Feb. 19.
“After having Sunday off, we will train for the next few days and head out on Wednesday,” head coach Larissa Libby said. “I think they are in a good place; after this weekend, they understand what they are, who they are, and where they need to be.”
The GymHawks head into this weekend with a record of 6-3, 4-1 in the Big Ten. Iowa is tied for first place in the Big Ten with Michigan and Nebraska.
Iowa picked up its fourth Big Ten win against Illinois on Feb. 11. This season, the GymHawks have also defeated Michigan State, Ohio State, and Maryland.
This week during practice, Libby and her staff didn’t treat this weekend’s competitions any differently; the main focus was gymnastics and keeping the gymnasts in the right mindset.
“Expectation-wise, I told them to do their jobs,” Libby said. “They are in a different position now. The expectations are bigger now. It’s on me and our staff to manage that expectation.”
To start the weekend, Iowa will head to Washington, D.C., for a five-team meet against George Washington at 6 p.m. today. Along with host George Washington, Iowa will compete against Pittsburgh, Maryland, and William & Mary.
One main focus for George Washington as well as the rest of this weekend was hitting and perfecting each detail in each routine, even if it meant going overboard a bit.
“I think the details is what we really are trying to focus on,” senior Angel Metcalf said. “They showed up last weekend, but it’s just those handstands on bars, hold your landings on vault, and popping out on floor that we are working on.”
George Washington comes into the meet ranked No. 20 after suffering its first losses of the season from Missouri and Iowa State on Feb. 10.
The GymHawks will face a familiar opponent this evening: Maryland. Iowa defeated Maryland on Jan. 29, 195.875-193.800. The Terrapins are ranked No. 41 nationally.
Pittsburgh comes in ranked No. 50 with an overall record of 4-6, while William & Mary ranks No. 63 with a 1-8 record.
After today’s competition, the GymHawks will travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to take on No. 2 LSU as well as George Washington once more on Feb. 19 at 2:30 p.m.
LSU is ranked in the top four for every event. It is safe to say that the GymHawks will have their work cut out for them.
The Tigers are ranked second on beam (49.900) and floor (49.483), third on vault (49.363), and fourth on uneven bars (49.333).
The Hawkeyes head into this weekend ranked No. 22 as well as ranked in the top 25 in each event. On beam, Iowa is ranked No. 18 (48.846), No. 19 on bars (48.864) and on floor (48.957), and No. 24 on vault (48.821).
“For us, it needs to be a win in our column and not necessarily a W,” Libby said. “As long as we’re turning out performances that will put us in the 196-score range, it’s a win for us. That’s where we need to be to return to the first round of the national championship again this year, and that is the big-picture focus.”