By Jess Westendorf
The Iowa women’s gymnastics team soared to a new season high as it defeated BYU in Provo, Utah, on Feb. 24
“I am ecstatic with how the meet went,” head coach Larissa Libby said in a release. “There was a tremendous effort, top-down, from every member of the team. This is probably one of the hardest meets the team has ever had to go through, and they earned every 10th of a point. I think this was one of the best meets in Iowa history.”
Eight GymHawks took home four titles, and the team recorded 14 top-five finishes. Six gymnasts recorded 10 new season bests.
Freshman Charlotte Sullivan shone for the Hawkeyes as she took first overall in the all-around with a career high of 39.200. This event title marks her fourth all-around win this season.
Going into the final rotation, Iowa and BYU were even at 147.275; Iowa had only the beam left to compete on, and the team pulled off a stellar performance.
Junior Nikki Youd led the Hawkeyes and won the event with a career high to 9.925, helping Iowa secure a 49.275 to win the meet. Youd’s score tied the third-best score on beam in the program’s history.
“We went into a situation where we were tied going into the last event,” Libby said in a release. “You rely heavily on the leadoff, and Savannah [Borman]’s routine was almost perfect. She set the tone for what was to come, and the judges were forced to give great scores. These are the hard things to do in a situation where it was do or die, and the team rising to the challenge and putting up the best scores they could was amazing.”
Iowa earned a new team season-high score on floor with a 49.350 with junior Lanie Snyder taking home the title with a new season high. Snyder surpassed her previous season score of 9.850 to tie Iowa’s third-best score in history with a 9.925.
Uneven bars brought a score of 48.975 for the GymHawks. Senior Angel Metcalf landed in third place with a 9.850.
Sophomore Misty-Jade Carlson took control on vault with a career high 9.850 and a tie for first. Sullivan and Melissa Zurawski tied for third with 9.825, a career best for Sullivan.
Men’s
Senior Andrew Botto took home two event titles as the Iowa men’s gymnastics team fell to Illinois on Feb. 25 in Champaign, 409.500-397.000.
Botto went atop of the podium in the all-around and on vault. He registered an 81.550 to claim the all-around and a season-best, vault also brought a new season best of 14.950.
Botto’s vault score aided the Hawkeyes as they scored their highest rotation of the night, 72.050.
On high bar, junior Austin Hodges came in at second place with a 14.000, senior Cory Paterson followed with a score of 13.900 to secure third place.
Iowa hit 67.700 on rings with senior Mark Springett leading the way to finish third with a 14.050. Botto came in behind Springett for fourth with a 13.900.
On parallel bars three Hawkeyes finished in the top-five. Hodges earned his second runner-up finish with a 14.000, with Botto and Dylan Ellsworth in third (13.500) and fourth (13.300) place respectively.
Springett finished at the top of the lineup for the Hawkeyes on floor with a 13.900 to advance him to a third-place finish. The team recorded a score of 63.900 in the event.
To round out the night, the Hawkeyes scored a 59.200 on pommel horse. Hodges led the way with a 13.200 and third place. Botto and junior Elijah Parsells tied for fourth place with a 12.600.