Feb. 4, 2014
- Read the latest issue of Hawk Talk Monthly
- 2014 Media Guide
- Download your Iowa Hawkeye iPhone app!
- Big Ten Network: Free Hawkeye Video
- 24 Hawkeyes to Watch
- Download your Hawk Talk Monthly iOS app
- Download your Hawk Talk Monthly android app
THIS WEEK: The No. 9 ranked Iowa men’s gymnastics team returns home to face the No. 5 ranked Illinois Fighting Illini on Friday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. (CT) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
STUDENT NIGHT: Friday’s meet is `Student Night’ at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The first 100 students in attendance will receive a free Iowa Gymnastics t-shirts.
LAST TIME OUT: Iowa traveled to Norman, Okla. to compete against the top-ranked Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday, Feb. 1. The Hawkeyes fell 444.300-430.600. Sophomore Jack Boyle took first place in the all-around with a score of 83.400. Junior Mitchell Landau finished first in horizontal bar with a score of 15.200 and finished runner-up in parallel bars with a score of 14.900.
SEASON TICKETS: Season tickets are currently on sale for $7 for adults. Fans purchasing season tickets will gain admission to two home meets which include three Big Ten foes. The season ticket package includes premium seating options and one Iowa men’s gymnastics t-shirt. All youth, 18 and younger, and UI students are admitted free to all home contests. Iowa opens at home on February 7 against conference foe Illinois. The Fighting Illini were picked to finish third in the Preseason Big Ten Poll. Fans interested in attending home meets at Carver-Hawkeye Arena should visit hawkeyesports.com or contact the UI Athletics Ticket Office at 1-800 IA-HAWKS to purchase tickets.
GYMNASTS TO WATCH: Redshirt senior Matt McGrath and sophomore Jack Boyle were selected to the Big Ten Preseason Gymnasts Watch List. The Hawkeyes were also picked to finish sixth in the Big Ten Preseason Coaches Poll. McGrath, who is one of two seniors included in the Big Ten’s Watch List, returns after using a medical redshirt last season. McGrath, a Wheaton Ill., native, advanced to the event finals of the 2012 Big Ten Championships on vault and took eighth place with a score of 14.900. Boyle, a Naperville, Ill. native, finished his freshman season with a 19th place finish in the high bar at the NCAA Team Finals.
HEAD COACH JD Reive: JD Reive is in his fourth season as the head coach of the University of Iowa men’s gymnastics team. In his first season at the helm of the Iowa program, the Hawkeyes broke four team records and five individual records. Iowa broke the total team score record with a 351.800 on March 24, 2011. Six gymnasts also punched their tickets to compete individually at the NCAA Championships. Reive coached his first Hawkeye — Matt McGrath — to All-America honors in 2011. In 2012, Reive coached three Hawkeyes — Javier Balboa, Broderick Shemansky, Anton Gryshayev — to the individual event semifinals at the NCAA Championships. The 2013 season was the most successful season in nearly a decade. Reive coached three All-Americans — Balboa, Gryshayev, William Albert — and coached the Hawkeyes to a fifth place finish at the NCAA Championships — Iowa’s best finish since 2005. Reive, who is the seventh head coach in the program history, came to Iowa City after serving as an assistant coach at Stanford from 2003-10.
TV TIME: Iowa will make two appearances on the Big Ten Network during the 2014 season. The Hawkeyes will make their season debut on BTN when they host Minnesota and Nebraska at noon (CT) on Feb. 15. The event will be held at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Big Ten Championships, slated for March 28-29 in Lincoln, Neb., can also be seen live on the network.
UP NEXT: Iowa will host Big Ten opponents No. 7 Minnesota and No. 11 Nebraska on Feb. 15. The event will take place at Carver Hawkeye Arena at 12:00 p.m (CT). The competition will be shown live on the Big Ten Network.