April 7, 2008
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- 24 Hawkeyes to Watch
- gohawks.com
- Big Ten Network: Free Hawkeye Video
This Week
The 22nd-ranked Iowa Women’s Gymnastics team will compete at the North Central Regional, Saturday, hosted by the University of Minnesota. Competition will take place at the Sports Pavilion on the University of Minnesota campus at 6 p.m.
Scouting the North Central Regional
Iowa heads into regional competition as the fourth seed with a regional qualifying score of 195.245. Utah is rated first with a 197.225 while Arkansas is seeded second, with a 196.165 and Arizona third, with a 195.890. Rounding out the team competition are Southern Utah, seeded fifth, and Minnesota as the sixth seed.
The Hawkeyes
Iowa is ranked 22nd nationally and third in the North Central Regional. The Hawkeyes finished the regular season with a 10-4-1 record and placed fifth at the Big Ten Championships, scoring 194.775. Jenifer Simbhudas is fifth on floor and sixth in the all-around regional rankings.
Last Competition
The Hawkeyes placed fifth at the Big Ten Championships held in Ann Arbor, MI. Beam was Iowa’s best event of the competition with three top-ten finishers. Katie Burke tied for fifth while Rebecca Simbhudas tied for eighth and Kara Pinjuv tied for 10th. Houry Gebeshian tied for sixth on bars while Jenifer Simbhudas tied for 10th on floor. Burke was Iowa’s best all-around competitor, tying for 10th.
Head Coach Larissa Libby was named Big Ten Coach of the Year and Jenifer Simbhudas was named first team all-Big Ten.
Last Time At Regionals
Iowa last competed as a team at regionals in 2005, with a sixth-place finish. In 2007, three Hawkeyes qualified for regional competition; Katie Burke, Kara Pinjuv and Jenifer Simbhudas. Burke was Iowa’s top competitor, finishing seventh in the all-around to advance to the NCAA Championships.
Head Coach Larissa Libby
In four years as Iowa Head Coach, Larissa Libby has recorded a 32-50-1 record. Before becoming head coach, Libby was Iowa’s associate head coach for one year and an assistant coach the previous three seasons. While associate head coach, Libby helped lead the GymHawks to a school record 49.425 beam performance in 2004. In addition to the record breaking performance, the 2004 GymHawks recorded a 49.0 or higher seven times on beam under Libby’s guidance.