April 5, 2010
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This Week
The University of Iowa women’s gymnastics team will travel to Columbia, MO, for the NCAA Columbia Regional April 10. The meet will be held in Hearnes Center and is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. (CT).
The Competition
The No. 30 Hawkeyes (11-13) will be competing alongside host-Missouri, No. 5 Georgia (10-7), No. 8 Oregon State (17-5), No. 25 Minnesota (7-14-1) and No. 36 North Carolina (19-6). The NCAA office conducted a draw to determine the rotation order for the competition, which follows: Missouri begins on vault, North Carolina begins on bars, Iowa begins on beam and Oregon State begins on floor while Minnesota and Georgia each have a bye in the first rotation.
Last Time Out
The GymHawks finished third at the 2010 Big Ten Championships, their best finish in six years, while scoring a team total of 195.575, their highest of the season. Iowa was led by juniors Rebecca Simbhudas (39.325) and Houry Gebeshian (39.275) who finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the all-around. The Hawkeyes were highlighted by Gebeshian who won the title on beam with a score of 9.950, becoming just the second Iowa gymnast to ever do so.
Head Coach Larissa Libby
In her sixth season at Iowa, Larissa Libby has a career record of 52-62-1. She was named North Central Region Coach of the Year in 2009 for her efforts in guiding the GymHawks to a 10-5 record and a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Regionals. She was also named co-Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2008. Libby served as associate head coach in 2004 and assistant coach from 2001-03 at Iowa before being named head coach in 2005.
Quoting Coach Libby
“No one expected this team to make it to regionals, so at this point it’s icing on the cake,” said Libby. “I know what we are capable of, but we’re going to need to have the right five on each event and they need to be nearly perfect. Are we capable? Absolutely.”
Championship Page
The NCAA has offered a tournament page with information on the six regional sites as well as the NCAA Championships in Gainesville, FL, April 22-24. For more information, visit www.ncaa.com and follow the championships link.