GymHawks To Host Illinois

Feb. 13, 2006

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

This Week
The University of Iowa women’s gymnastics team will host Illinois Saturday at 7 p.m. at the UI Fieldhouse. The Iowa men will also be competing against Michigan and Illinois. Illinois is currently ranked 23rd in GymInfo rankings, and posts a 3-3 record.

Last Time Against Illinois
Iowa traveled to Illinois in 2005 and competed in a Quadrangular meet. Teams competing included Iowa, Illinois, Illinois-Chicago and Illinois State. Iowa placed first with a score of 194.025. Danielle Legeai won beam, scoring a season high 9.775.

Last Competition
The No. 35 Hawkeyes hosted No. 16 Denver last weekend. Iowa was defeated, 192.575-191.625. Iowa’s Liz Grajewski posted a 9.875 on floor, placing first in that event, while Kortny Williamson placed third with a 9.775. Williamson placed second on vault with a 9.875. Grajewski placed second in the all-around with a 38.750.

Head Coach Larissa Libby
Iowa Head Coach Larissa Libby is in her second season as head coach for the Hawkeyes. In her first year, Libby recorded an 8-14 record in 2005. Before becoming head coach, Libby was Iowa’s associate head coach for one year and an assistant coach for three seasons. While associate head coach, Libby led the GymHawks to a school record 49.425 beam performance in 2004. In addition, in 2004 the GymHawks recorded a 49.0 or higher seven times on beam under Libby’s guidance.

Quoting Assistant Coach Talya Vexler
“We had just an okay meet. Vault and floor were fabulous. Brandi Loffer did new tumbling on floor and Jen Simbhudas stuck a beautiful vault. Beam and bars still have a lot of room for improvement. Consistency is going to be our focus for the next few weeks in practice. Translating great training into competition will be the key to our success for the rest of the season.”

Next Competition
The Hawkeyes will travel to Denton, TX Saturday, February 25th to compete at Texas Woman’s University. Competition will take place at Pioneer Hall and is set to begin at 7 p.m.