Feb. 21, 2010
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IOWA CITY, IA – The University of Iowa women’s gymnastics team fell Sunday afternoon, 194.475-193.825, to Iowa State University. With a season-high crowd of over 1,400 in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, the GymHawks had individual winners in four events, but couldn’t manage to put six solid scores together throughout the meet.
“I felt like we beat ourselves, and that’s the kind of thing I don’t want to walk away from any meet feeling like,” said Head Coach Larissa Libby. “They worked hard all week in practice and just missed some little details. When you’re competing against a team like Iowa State, every fraction of a tenth matters. I felt the meet was pretty tight the whole way and we just kept giving up little things here and there. It ended up being too much.”
Iowa was led by sophomore Jessa Hansen who placed second in the all-around with a score of 38.875. Junior Rebecca Simbhudas placed third (38.750) while junior Houry Gebeshian finished in fifth (38.300).
I thought that Jessa did a really nice job tonight,” said Libby. “She’s been working really hard on single skill details and you can see that her vault score came up a little bit tonight.”
The Black and Gold began on vault where they topped the Cyclones, 48.500-48.350. Simbhudas tied for first with a score of 9.800 while Gebeshian posted a 9.750 to tie for third.
Gebeshian took the top spot on bars with a score of 9.825. Sophomore Jordan Eszlinger set a career mark for herself with a score of 9.725 as she finished in fourth place. Hansen tied for fifth with a score of 9.700, helping the Hawkeyes post a team score of 48.150.
Simbhudas finished in another tie on beam as Iowa received a team score of 48.475. The Markham, Ontario native put together a 9.825 while Hansen tied for fourth with a score of 9.750.
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“I truly believe the only way to make them better is to get it done in the gym. Success breeds success and they’re just starting to figure it out in the gym. Once they start taking control of themselves, as a team they’ll come up. I believe they have 195’s and 196’s in them. Two weeks and we’ll be there.”
Larissa Libby
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The GymHawks finished the meet strong on floor as they earned their best team score of the day, 48.700. Hansen and Simbhudas, along with Iowa State’s Michelle Browning, finished in a tie for first place as the three posted scores of 9.825. Browning went on to win the all-around competition with a score of 38.900.
“I’ll give them a break tomorrow then we’ll get back at it,” added Libby. “I truly believe the only way to make them better is to get it done in the gym. Success breeds success and they’re just starting to figure it out in the gym. Once they start taking control of themselves, as a team they’ll come up. I believe they have 195’s and 196’s in them. Two weeks and we’ll be there.”
Iowa will return to action against Minnesota Feb. 28. Competition will be held at the Field House on the University of Iowa campus and is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. (CT).