It was a historic Saturday afternoon for the 21st-ranked Iowa gymnastics team as it broke two records against the 30th-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

First was the goal of posting a new attendance record, which the Hawkeyes did with a record 4,100 fans, smashing the previous record of 3,715 fans for last year’s meet against Iowa State 

“I am so grateful that people support women’s sports as much as they do,” fourth-year Gianna Masella said. “I am very grateful to everyone who came to support Iowa, who has such a strong women’s athletic support system and community.”

The second was a surprise to everyone. After the final scores came in, it was announced that the team had posted a program record in team score in a  197.225 – 196.825 victory. 

“We knew we were capable of this, and it’s been one of our goals from the beginning of August when the team got together, so it’s nice to finally accomplish a goal we set out for ourselves,” head coach Jen Llewellyn said.  

Adding to the records and history were some athletes’ personal achievements with a variety of new career and season highs. 

For starters, fourth-year Avery Chambers struck a magnificent vault, earning her a 9.875, a new season-high, and tying her career-best. 

Though the Gymhawks had an excellent start to the meet, by the end of the first rotation, the Hawkeyes trailed the Cornhuskers by 0.225 points. 

But that deficit did not remain long as Iowa rebounded on the bars, scoring a new season-high in the event with a score of 49.425. This was achieved thanks to the career-high scores by fifth-year JerQuavia Henderson and first-year Sophie Schriever.

Now up 0.250, the Hawkeyes did not look back and continued to excel on the beam. Both Schriever and first-year Maggie Ball earned new career-high scores, with Aurélie Tran leading the squad with a 9.900, which tied her season and career-best score. 

“My philosophy is that you can’t peak in January or win a championship in January, so you lay the foundation and start to develop your rhythm both at home and away,” Llewellyn said. “I think they are all starting to find that rhythm and that leads to better executions and confidence.”

With all this history-making and highs, it was a good revamp for the Gymhawks after their last road trip, but next weekend, Iowa hits the road again, this time to the East Coast. The Hawkeyes will take on Rutgers on Feb. 14, where they hope to continue the momentum. 

“I think our biggest focus will remain to be on the score and being us,” Llewellyn said. “We know what we need to do at Rutgers, and just keeping everyone healthy and motivated, which I think is already halfway done after this meet.”