GymHawks Close Regular Season At Southern Utah

March 8, 2011

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This Week
The University of Iowa women’s gymnastics team will travel to Cedar City, UT, for a tri-meet against Southern Utah and Utah State March 12. Southern Utah will host the meet in Centrum Arena where action is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. (CT).

Scouting The Competition
The Southern Utah Thunderbirds are 8-5 on the year and most recently took first in a tri-meet at home March 7. In the final routine of the meet, senior Shannon Coughlin posted a 9.900 on floor which gave Southern Utah (195.475) the win over No. 24 Auburn and Brigham Young.
The Utah State Aggies picked up their first conference win of the year with a season-high of 194.550 over Cal State Fullerton March 5. Senior Jackie Dillon won the all-around during senior night with a career-high of 39.150. The Aggies are 2-12 on the year.

Last Time Out
The 17th-ranked Hawkeyes finished their home season with a perfect 5-0 record with a 195.950-193.425 win over Northern Illinois March 5. The GymHawks posted a season high on bars (49.275) and crowned champions in every event. Senior Rebecca Simbhudas won her sixth-consecutive all-around title and eighth of the year with a mark of 39.275. The Hawkeyes currently own a season record of 9-6.

Nation’s Best
Simbhudas and junior Jessa Hansen are both ranked among the nation’s top-20 all-around competitors in the most recent rankings on troester.com. Simbhudas is ranked eighth with an average score of 39.059 while Hansen is ranked 19th (38.995). Additionally, Simbhudas is ranked seventh in the nation on beam while Hansen is No. 9 on floor.

Head Coach Larissa Libby
In her seventh season at Iowa, Larissa Libby has a career record of 55-64-1. Libby coached the 2010 GymHawks to a third place finish at the Big Ten Championships, their best finish in six years, as well as their fourth regional appearance in six seasons. 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.

Next Competition
The GymHawks will begin their postseason at the 2011 Big Ten Championships hosted by Minnesota. Competition will be held at the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis, MN, and is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. (CT).