Feb. 9, 2008
IOWA CITY – No. 28 Iowa tied No. 22 Ohio State tonight with a score of 195.400. The score was Iowa’s best team total since 2005 and the Hawkeyes had event winners on vault, floor and in the all-around. Junior Jenifer Simbhudas earned a career-high 39.3 in the all-around.
Simbhudas, placing first in the all-around (39.3), also claimed wins on vault and floor with scores of 9.825 and 9.875, respectively. In addition, Simbhudas earned a 9.825 on bars to tie for second. Other vault scores include Kara Pinjuv, improving her season-best by placing third with a 9.8, and Brandi Loffer finishing eighth with a 9.65.
On bars, Iowa earned a team-total 48.85 which is a season-best for the Hawkeyes. Pinjuv was Iowa’s next best score behind Simbhudas, earning a 9.8 to finish fourth. Senior Katie Burke improved her season-best to 9.775, placing fifth. Loffer rounded out Iowa’s top scores in the event, tying for sixth with Ohio State’s Rebecca Best with a 9.75.
Freshman Houry Gebeshian was Iowa’s star on beam tonight, earning a 9.9 to finish first in the event which is a new season best beam score for the Hawkeyes. Sisters Rebecca and Jenifer Simbhudas tied for fourth on beam with a score of 9.775 while Loffer and Pinjuv tied for sixth with Ohio State’s Dow and Rebecca Best, scoring 9.75.
With a tight match, the score came down to the final rotation with Iowa on floor. The Hawkeyes claimed four of the top five spots in the event. Behind Jenifer Simbhudas’ first-place performance were Gebeshian and Burke who tied for second with Ohio State’s Best, earning a 9.85. The score was enough to earn new season-best marks for both Gebeshian and Burke. Pinjuv placed fifth with a 9.825 which also ties her season best score.
In the all-around, Pinjuv earned Iowa’s second highest score after Jenifer Simbhudas with a 39.175. The score was enough to earn the junior a tie with Ohio State’s Best. Other all-around scores include Katie Burke tying for fourth with Dow of Ohio State (38.875), and Loffer finishing sixth with a 38.850.
“I’m so proud of the team tonight. I was pleased with the crowd’s involvement in the meet, and even happier that our gymnasts were the reason the crowd was so loud and excited,” said Iowa Head Coach Larissa Libby. “I am happy that we scored as high as we did and still have room for improvement. The team is putting in the work and it is paying off. We always say success breeds success, and the team is finally seeing that first-hand.”
Iowa will have a week off before returning to action February 22nd at Iowa State.
Final Team ScoresTeam Vault Bars Beam Floor Totalt1. #28 Iowa 48.500 48.850 48.950 49.100 195.400t1. #22 OSU 48.775 48.900 48.850 48.875 195.400
Individual Results (winner plus Iowa):Vault (winner plus Iowa):t1. Jenifer Simbhudas (Iowa) 9.825t1. Rebecca Best (OSU) 9.8253. Kara Pinjuv 9.8008. Brandi Loffer (Iowa) 9.6509. Nikki Page (Iowa) 9.62510. Katie Burke (Iowa) 9.60012. Amanda Rudolph (Iowa) 9.575
Uneven Bars (winner plus Iowa):1. Kaylan Clevinger (OSU) 9.900t2. Jenifer Simbhudas (Iowa) 9.8254. Kara Pinjuv (Iowa) 9.8005. Katie Burke (Iowa) 9.7756. Brandi Loffer (Iowa) 9.750t9. Houry Gebeshian (Iowa) 9.70012. Ally Zipse (Iowa) 8.950
Balance Beam (winner plus Iowa):1. Houry Gebeshian (Iowa) 9.900t4. Rebecca Simbhudas (Iowa) 9.775t4. Jenifer Simbhudas (Iowa) 9.775t6. Brandi Loffer (Iowa) 9.750t6. Kara Pinjuv (Iowa) 9.75011. Katie Burke (Iowa) 9.650
Floor Exercise (winner plus Iowa):1. Jenifer Simbhudas (Iowa) 9.875t2. Houry Gebeshian (Iowa) 9.850t2. Katie Burke (Iowa) 9.8505. Kara Pinjuv (Iowa) 9.825t9. Jenny Donar (Iowa) 9.700t9. Brandi Loffer (Iowa) 9.700
All-Around (winner plus Iowa):1. Jenifer Simbhudas (Iowa) 39.300t2. Kara Pinjuv (Iowa) 39.1754. Katie Burke (Iowa) 38.8756. Brandi Loffer (Iowa) 38.850="https://hawkeyesports.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://hawkeyesports.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://hawkeyesports.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://hawkeyesports.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://hawkeyesports.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://hawkeyesports.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://hawkeyesports.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://hawkeyesports.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://hawkeyesports.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://hawkeyesports.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://hawkeyesports.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://hawkeyesports.com/http:%3E%3C/pre%3E%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%3Cul%20class="noindent"> Big Ten Network: Programming Schedule