THIS WEEK
The 19th-ranked University of Iowa women’s gymnastics team will travel to Ames, Iowa, to face No. 26 Iowa State in its Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk meet on Friday inside Hilton Coliseum. The meet is set to start at 6:30 p.m. (CT) and will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
FOLLOW LIVE
• Friday’s meet will be televised on ESPN+ – a paid subscription service
• Fans can follow along via live results at hawkeyesports.com or via Twitter (@IowaGymnastics).
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
• The Hawkeyes are ranked 19th in the Road to Nationals rankings with a national qualifying score of 196.325. Iowa was 13th following Week 7 and ninth following Week 1 — the second-highest ranking in program history.
• Two gymnasts placed in the top three on vault at No. 8 Minnesota on Feb. 25 with senior Bridget Killian setting her season-best 9.900 to tie for second, along with teammate JerQuavia Henderson. The team sits 17th nationally on vault with an average score of 48.950.
• Two gymnasts placed in the top two on beam at No. 8 Minnesota on Feb. 25 with senior Clair Kaji and sophomore Adeline Kenlin both tying season-bests with 9.925s to tie for second place. Kenlin returned to the beam lineup after missing four meets because of injury. Iowa ranks No. 16 on beam with an average score of 49.039.
• Lauren Guerin scored her fourth 9.925 of the season to tie for second against No. 8 Minnesota. The senior is tied for eight nationally on floor, and has four floor event-titles this season. Iowa is tied for seventh nationally on floor with an average score of 49.375.
• JerQuavia Henderson scored a 39.175 in all-around to place in third at No. 8 Minnesota on Feb. 25. The junior has placed in the top three in all five all-around competitions this season.
• The Hawkeyes have earned two Big Ten weekly honors this season. Junior JerQuavia Henderson was the Specialist of the Week on Jan. 10 and Marissa Rojas garnered Freshman of the Week honors on Jan. 25.
• Iowa returns 15 letter winners in 2022, including three All-Americans and four All-Big Ten selections. Iowa boasts a roster with seven seniors and 11 upperclassmen.
NOTABLES
• The Hawkeyes wrapped up Big Ten regular season competition on Feb. 25 in Minneapolis, posting a 196.375 inside Maturi Pavillion. Six gymnasts either tied or set new season-highs with five placing in the top three in four events.
• Four gymnasts scored above a 9.800 on floor against No. 8 Minnesota on Feb. 25. Senior Lauren Guerin tied for second place on floor after scoring a 9.925. Iowa has eight top-three floor finishes this season, and is tied for eighth nationally. JerQuavia Henderson scored a 9.900 to continue her 9.900 or better streak on floor in all eight meets. Senior Alex Greenwald scored her second-highest score of the season, posting a 9.875.
• Four gymnasts tied or set season highs on vault at No. 8 Minnesota. Senior Bridget Killian set a career-high after posting a 9.900 to tie for second place with Henderson. Guerin tied her season-high of 9.850, and Greenwald set a new season-high after scoring a 9.775.
• The GymHawks scored 49 or higher in three events (beam, floor, and vault) in Minneapolis.
• Iowa has had nine gymnasts win event titles this season — Alex Greenwald (1), JerQuavia Henderson (8), Clair Kaji (1), Adeline Kenlin (3), Allyson Steffensmeier (2), Lauren Guerin (3), Linda Zivat (2), Marissa Rojas (1), and Bridget Killian (1).
BEAT STATE WEEK
It has been two years since Iowa and Iowa State have faced off in the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series. Last season, the two teams met in the postseason at the Tuscaloosa Regional, where the Hawkeyes posted a 197.050 to finish third, while the Cyclones finished with a 196.525 to place fourth.
• In 2020, prior to the gymnastic season being canceled due to COVID-19, Iowa set a season-high overall score of 196.425 to win the meet in Ames. It was Iowa’s first road win in the series since 2010.
• The Cyclones lead the 2021-22 Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series, 12-9. Iowa has won in women’s soccer, football, volleyball and wrestling. Iowa State has been victorious in men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s basketball, women’s swimming and women’s tennis.
STANDOUT HENDERSON
Junior JerQuavia Henderson is ranked in two events in the Road to Nationals rankings, coming in at No. 8 on floor with a national average of 9.925. She ranked No. 2 on floor during Week 7 – the highest ranking of her career. The Peoria, Illinois, native has captured four floor event titles this season and has scored a 9.900 or higher in all nine meets.
• Henderson has 10 event titles this season.
• In eight meets, Henderson has tallied 24 top-three finishes to lead the team.
• She is ranked No. 24 on vault with an average score of 9.875. She was ranked as high as No. 5 on Week 1. Henderson has three vault titles and has nine top-three finishes. She has been in the top 30 in the vault rankings all eight weeks.
• Henderson has placed in the top-three in the all-around in all five competitions. She had a career-high 39.475 in her all-around debut against Nebraska on Jan. 29 before scoring a 39.425 against Penn State on Feb. 4 and 39.400 against Rutgers, Kent State, and Ursinus to take all three event-titles. She posted a 39.325 at the Big Five Meet on Feb. 18 and 39.175 at No. 8 Minnesota on Feb. 25 to take third place at both meets.
B1G RANKINGS
Iowa finished the Big Ten regular season with a 5-4 league record (10-5 overall), sitting in a tie for fourth place.
COMEBACK OF THE SEASON
Iowa entered the final rotation against Penn State on Feb. 4, trailing by .600 points. The Hawkeyes rallied, scoring a program-record 49.650 on floor to improve to 3-0 in the Big Ten. Five gymnasts scored a 9.900 or higher with senior Lauren Guerin and junior JerQuavia Henderson posting a 9.975 to share the event title and tie for the highest score in program history.
FLOOR RECORDS GALORE
No. 17 Iowa broke the school floor record and had two gymnasts tie the top floor score in its 196.125-195.325 victory over No. 29 Penn State on Feb. 4.
• The previous floor record was 49.600, which was set against Minnesota/ Maryland in 2021.
• Senior Lauren Guerin posted a career-high 9.975 as the anchor to seal the comeback victory. The Texas native received one perfect 10.0 to tie for the highest score in program history.
• Junior JerQuavia Henderson posted a 9.975 for the second time in her career, tying her own school record. The Illinois native, who had a 10.0 from one judge, also posted a 9.975 last season against Maryland/Minnesota.
TOP 5 FLOOR QUEENS
Senior Lauren Guerin and junior JerQuavia Henderson have been consistently consistent on floor this season. The two gymnasts both rank in the top 10 in the Road to Nationals rankings with Henderson and Guerin both tied at the No. 8 with a national qualifying score of 9.930.
• The pair both received one perfect 10.0 en route to 9.975 scores on floor against Penn State on Feb. 4 to tie the school record and tie for the event title.
• Guerin has scored 9.900 or higher in eight of nine meets this season, including a career-best 9.975 against Penn State.
• Henderson has scored 9.900 or higher in all nine competitions, including her season-best 9.975 against the Nittany Lions.
• As a team, Iowa has scored 49.225 or higher in all eight meets this season. Guerin has finished in the top five on floor in every meet. Iowa has won or placed in the top three in every meet this season.
B1G HONORS
• Junior JerQuavia Henderson was named Big Ten Specialist of the Week on Jan. 10 after scoring a 9.925 on vault and floor in the Hawkeyes’ win over Eastern Michigan. It was her first career honor.
• Freshman Marissa Rojas earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors on Jan. 25 after winning her first career event title in the road win at Michigan State. The Michigan native posted an anchor score of 9.925 to take the title and she also made her floor debut, scoring a 9.800.
IN THE RANKINGS
Iowa is one of six Big Ten teams in the top 25 of the Road to Nationals rankings along with No. 1 Michigan, No. 9 Minnesota, No. 12 Michigan State, No. 18 Ohio State, and No. 22 Illinois. The Hawkeyes, who are ranked 19th, was ninth following Week 1, which was the second-highest ranking in program history.
IN THE RECORD BOOKS
Seven Hawkeyes are in the Iowa record books for the 2022 season. They are as follows:
• JerQuavia Henderson – t1st – 9.975 – Floor
• Lauren Guerin – t1st -9.975 – Floor
• Adeline Kenlin -t1st- 9.975- Beam
• Clair Kaji – t3rd – 9.950 – Beam
• Lauren Guerin – t4th – 9.950 – Floor
• JerQuavia Henderson – t4th – 9.950 – Floor
• Allyson Steffensmeier – t6th – 9.925 – Uneven Bars
• Clair Kaji – t6th – 9.925 – Uneven Bars
• JerQuavia Henderson – t6th – 9.925 – Uneven Bars
• Marissa Rojas – t8 – 9.925 – Beam
• Lauren Guerin – t9th – 9.925 – Vault
• JerQuavia Henderson -t9th- 9.925- Vault
• Lauren Guerin – t12- 9.925 – Floor
• Clair Kaji – t12 – 9.925 – Floor
• Alex Greenwald – t12 – 9.925 – Floor
• Alex Greenwald – t15 – 9.900 – Uneven Bars
• Adeline Kenlin – t15th – 9.900 – Uneven Bars
• Adeline Kenlin – t17 – 39.500 – All-Around
KAJI X 6
Senior Clair Kaji returns for her sixth season with the Gymhawks after earning first-team All-Big Ten honors in 2021. It was Kaji’s third All-Big Ten recognition as she was the first Hawkeye since Houry Gebeshian to earn three All-Big Ten honors. Kaji is the ninth Iowa gymnast to earn multiple first-team honors.
HAYDEN JOINS IOWA COACHING STAFF
Quest Hayden is in his first season as an assistant coach, joining the Hawkeyes following stints at North Carolina, Michigan and Penn State. Hadyen was a member of the United States’ 2013 Junior National Team and he competed collegiately at Penn State from 2015-18.
20 & COUNTING
Head coach Larissa Libby has led the GymHawks to 20 straight NCAA Regional appearances (either as a team or individually). The 2022 season is Libby’s 18th as Iowa’s head coach and 21st overall with the program. She is a three-time Big Ten Coach of the Year.
FOLLOW THE HAWKEYES
For a behind-the-scenes look at the program, follow the GymHawks via social media at Facebook/IowaGymnastics, Twitter/@IowaGymnastics, and Instagram (@IowaGymnastics).
UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes head to the West Coast to close out the regular season, as they travel to Berkeley, California, on March 13 to face No. 8 California. The meet is set to start at noon (CT) and it will be streamed on the Pac-12 Network.