March 21, 2014
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THIS WEEK:
The University of Iowa women’s gymnastics team continues action at the 2014 Big Ten Women’s Gymnastics Championships on Saturday at Rec Hall on the campus of Penn State in University Park, Pa. Based on the results of two Big Ten quad meets last weekend, teams were placed in one of two sessions for Saturday’s conference championships. Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State will compete in the first session at 11 a.m. (CT), while the evening session begins at 4 p.m. and will feature Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska and Penn State. The team with the highest score, regardless of session, will win the Big Ten Championship.
WATCH LIVE ON BTN:
Both sessions of the Big Ten Championships will be shown live on the Big Ten Network and BTN2GO. Lisa Byington (play-by-play) and former U.S. Olympian Shawn Johnson (analyst) will call the action.
HOERR NAMED ALL-BIG TEN:
Junior Sydney Hoerr was named second team All-Big Ten on March 18. All-conference teams are determined by regional qualifying scores. Hoerr, an Academic All-Big Ten honoree, is a junior from Bloomington, Ill. She was named to the 2014 Big Ten Gymnasts to Watch List in December. Hoerr has registered Iowa’s individual season bests on the uneven bars (9.900 at Iowa State, March 7) and floor exercise (9.875 at Georgia, Jan. 20) this season. She has competed in all 11 meets, while competing in the all-around in six competitions. Hoerr leads Iowa on the bars with a regional qualifying score of 9.855, tying for 54th nationally.
HAWKEYES POST SEASON BEST AT BOISE STATE:
The University of Iowa women’s gymnastics team posted a season best for the third straight week at Boise State on Feb. 28, falling to the Broncos 196.975-195.350.The final score surpassed their previous season-best against UIC on Feb. 23 (195.125). Iowa posted season bests on both beam and vault, tallying 48.975 and 49.025, respectively. Both previous season bests, 48.900 on bars and 48.925 on vault, came against Ohio State on Feb. 14. Freshman Jordyn Doherty recorded a team high on vault with a 9.875.
HEAD COACH Larissa Libby:
Entering her 10th year as head coach of the Hawkeyes, Libby has her eyes set on a seventh-consecutive NCAA postseason appearance, the eighth in her tenure. During the 2013 regular season, Iowa clinched the Cy-Hawk Series, defeating Iowa State with a season-best, 196.375-194.575. Iowa was the only Big Ten team to down Minnesota, the regular season Big Ten Co-Champions. The Hawkeyes beat the Gophers, 195.725-195.550. Iowa found success off the floor as well, as four GymHawks — Sydney Hoerr, Emma Stevenson, Kaitlynn Urano and Emma Willis — received Academic All-Big Ten honors. In 2012, the Hawkeyes finished the season ranked 26th nationally, the team’s highest finish since 2004.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN:
The majority of GymHawks are underclassmen, with seven freshmen, four sophomores and three juniors. There are no seniors on the roster.
A LOOK BACK AT 2013:
In 2013, the GymHawks were selected to compete in NCAA Regional competition for the sixth-straight year under head coach Larissa Libby. The GymHawks were one of just 36 teams to receive an invitation to regional competition at one of six different sites. Iowa scored 194.475 for sixth place, while No. 2 Oklahoma won the meet, totaling 197.375. No. 11 Stanford earned second (196.800) followed by No. 22 Washington (195.925), No. 14 Penn State (195.875) and Southern Utah (194.850).
IOWA SELECTED TO HOST 2016 NCAA REGIONAL:
The University of Iowa and Carver-Hawkeye Arena have been selected to host a 2016 NCAA Regional (April 2, 2016) in women’s gymnastics. Iowa last hosted an NCAA Regional in 2009.
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