GymHawks cancel final home meet of 2020
In another shocking turn of events, the University of Iowa Women’s Gymnastics program has elected to cancel its final home meet of the year.
Iowa’s Alex Greenwald walks with head coach Larissa Libby during a women’s gymnastics meet between Iowa and Iowa State at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Friday, March 1, 2019. The Hawkeyes, celebrating senior night, fell to the Cyclones, 196.275-196.250.
March 12, 2020
Amid growing fears of COVID-19, the University of Iowa Women’s Gymnastics team has canceled its final home meet of the season at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The announcement was made via social media early Thursday afternoon.
The matchup was supposed to come against Western Michigan on Friday and serve as celebration of the program’s seniors.
Prior to its decision to cancel, the women’s gymnastics program announced that fans would be barred from entry to the meet against Western Michigan.
“It is with heavy hearts we share that no fans (beyond family of our athletes) will be permitted to attend our meet this Friday. We thank the University of Iowa, Big Ten, and NCAA for keeping fan, athlete and staff safety and wellness their utmost priority during this time.”
“We are saddened for our seniors, Gina [Leal] and Clair [Kaji], as this is in no way how we wish them to spend the night that is dedicated to them.”
The team has not announced what they plan to do for the remainder of the season. The next meet on the Hawkeyes’ schedule pits them against California on March 15.
Next week, Iowa is scheduled to compete in the Big Ten Women’s Gymnastics Championships in Columbus, Ohio, with no fan attendance. There have been no reports on the status of the competition from the Big Ten.