Jan. 25, 2008
IOWA CITY – The 24th-ranked University of Iowa women’s gymnastics team will open its home season tonight, facing No. 22 Illinois. Competition will take place at Carver-Hawkeye arena and is set to begin at 7 p.m. Admission is $3 for general admission, $2 for groups of 15 or more, and there is no admission for UI students or people under the age of 18.
The Big Ten Network is airing the meet, which will be replayed January 29 at 8 p.m. The announcers for the meet will be Jim Kelly and Mary Lee Tracy.
Iowa is ranked 24th nationally with a 3-2 record, while junior Jenifer Simbhudas is ranked third in the Big Ten all-around with an average 39.037 and season-best of 39.175. Iowa’s high team total in 2008 is 193.625. Other Hawkeyes to watch include Kara Pinjuv, Katie Burke and freshmen Houry Gebeshian and Becky Simbhudas. Pinjuv has had a solid start to the 2008 season with a high of 9.725 on vault and on beam.
Burke, coming off a 2007 NCAA Championships appearance, is once again a team leader, consistently having some of Iowa’s best scores on each event. Gebeshian has started strongly for the Hawkeyes in her freshman campaign, earning a high 9.775 on beam. Becky Simbhudas, having just recently joined the team, will debut on beam tonight.
For those Iowa fans that are not able to attend tonight’s event at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, livestats will be available at http://live.iowagymnastics.com/. The event will also be replayed on the Big Ten Network, Tuesday, at 8 p.m.
Click HERE for the Big Ten Network home page.