Feb. 20, 2004
Gymnast Shawn Stone, a junior from Wall Lake, Iowa, has been added to the 2003-04 McLeodUSA StarHawks team this week.
“Shawn is a small town Iowa boy with big dreams,” said UI Head Coach Tom Dunn. “He was on a roll, ranked 6th in the nation on Floor Exercise, when he tore his ACL last February. His comeback has been slow and has included a second surgery to remove a screw from his reconstructed knee.”
Stone was indeed on a roll prior to his injury. As a freshman, he tied for third on Floor Exercise at the Rocky Mountain Open, and fourth versus Nebraska. Before his injury last season, he was crowned Floor Exercise champion versus Nebraska with a season best score of 9.l.
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“Shawn is a small town Iowa boy with big dreams. He was on a roll, ranked sixth in the nation on floor exercise, when he tore his ACL last February. His comeback has been slow and has included a second surgery to remove a screw from his reconstructed knee.”
Iowa Coach Tom Dunn
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“Shawn is a ‘fast twitch’ athlete,” Dunn said. “His biggest problem is keeping his explosive power under control, but when it all comes together; he will be one of the best in the country. He’s determined to be back on the Floor this week and resume his quest to be a contender at the NCAA Championships in April.”
An arts and communications major, Stone represents the men’s gymnastics team on the Iowa Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, a group of student-athletes from each of the UI’s varsity sports programs who help to shape athletics department policies and procedures and to initiate department-wide outreach programs.
“We’re all really pulling for Shawn,” Dunn continued. “It will be a real treat for all of us if he’s able to come back from this injury and make his dreams come true.”
The StarHawks program is an initiative funded in part by McLeodUSA, a leading telecommunications company with corporate headquarters in Cedar Rapids and a long-time member of the UI’s Partners in Excellence corporate sponsorship program. The StarHawks team is a collection of student-athletes at the University of Iowa who truly represent the very best the intercollegiate athletics program at the UI has to offer. StarHawks typically excel athletically and academically, and also are active in community or leadership activities.