Dec. 30, 2003
IOWA CITY, IA –
This Week: The 12th-ranked Iowa women’s gymnastics squad will compete at the Cancun Invitational in Cancun, Mexico Friday. Competition is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
The Competition: The GymHawks will be competing against Oklahoma, Texas Woman’s University and Washington. Oklahoma is ranked 13th in the GymInfo Pre-Season Coaches Poll. Washington is also ranked in the poll, coming in 15th.
GymHawks Hope to Continue 2003’s Success: The GymHawks had a landmark season in 2003. Iowa qualified for its first-ever team appearance at the NCAA championships with a second-place finish at the South Central Regionals. They finished the championships with an 11th place finish. New school-record team scores on vault, balance beam and team total were established. Additionally, three individuals set new school record marks. Iowa tied its best conference tournament finish in school history, placing second at the Big Ten Championships with Alexis Maday sharing the uneven bar titles and Stephanie Gran sharing the floor exercise title. Maday also received first-team all-America honors on the uneven bars and second-team all-America accolades in the all-around.
In the Rankings: Iowa is ranked 12th in the GymInfo Preseason Coaches Poll. This is the highest pre-season ranking in school history for the women’s team. Topping the pre-season poll is UCLA, followed by Georgia and reigning National Champion Alabama.