No. 20 Hawkeyes Set to Face Southern Utah and Michigan St.

THIS WEEK

The 20th-ranked University of Iowa women’s gymnastics team will host Southern Utah on Taylor Swift night inside of Xtream Arena on Friday Jan. 26 at 6:30 p.m. CT. The GymHawks will then travel to East Lansing, Mich. on Sunday to take on the 14th-ranked Spartans at Noon CT on the 28th.

FOLLOW LIVE

• Fans can follow along via live results at hawkeyesports.com or via Twitter (@IowaGymnastics).

• Both meets will be streamed live on B1G+ (subscription required).

PREVIEWING THE SOUTHERN UTAH THUNDERBIRDS

• Head coach Scotty Bauman is in his 33rd season leading the Thunderbirds.

• This will be the sixth meeting between Iowa and Southern Utah under Coach Libby.

• The Thunderbirds opened the season at the Mean Girls Super 16 Meet in Las Vegas, Nevada, where they finished in third place.

•  SUU competed in the Best of Utah Meet where they took third place finishing ahead of Utah State.

• Southern Utah recently finished in third in their home opener SUU Tri Meet, falling short to Arizona State and Utah State.

PREVIEWING THE MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS

• Head coach Mike Rowe is in his seventh season leading the Spartans.

• This will be the 13th meeting between Iowa and Michigan State under Coach Libby.

• Michigan State opened its season at the Super 16 Meet, defeating No. 6 Michigan and securing third place.

• The Spartans finished in second at Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad Meet, taking the win over No. 19 BYU and North Carolina State.

LAST TIME OUT

• The GymHawks scored a 196.150 in their Big Ten opener at Minnesota.

• Senior Adeline Kenlin and sophomore Gianna Masella were the two leaders on bars

• Kenlin was also the all-around winner on the night.

• Sophomore Karina Muñoz won the meet on beam with an impressive score of 9.900 and tied for the second-place position on vault.

Kenlin and MUÑOZ named b1g gymnasts to watch

• Senior Adeline Kenlin and sophomore Karina Muñoz were named B1G Gymnasts to watch by the conference for the 2024 season.

• Kenlin captured five event titles and 16 top-three finishes in the 2023 season. The Iowa City native, was the runner-up at the Big Ten Championships on beam. She earned second team all-Big Ten honors and was named to the Big Ten All-Championship team. Kenlin finished second on the team with 14 scores of 9.900 or higher.

• Muñoz is coming off an amazing season where she was the only Hawkeye freshmen to compete in the all-around. The New Jersey native captured seven event titles and 13 top-three finishes. She scored a 9.800 or higher on every vault. Muñoz was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week on March 12.

KENLIN EARNS B1G HONORS

• Adeline Kenlin was named to the 2023 Big Ten Women’s Gymnastics All-Big Ten Second-team.

• This was Kenlin’s third straight season earning All-Big Ten honors.

• The Iowa City, Iowa, native has five event titles and 15 top-three finishes this season. She has posted a 9.950 twice on beam, which is second-best in school history as well as ties for best in school history with a 9.975.

IN THE RECORD BOOKS

Five Hawkeyes are in the Iowa record books. They are as follows:

• Adeline Kenlin -T-1st- 9.975- Beam

• Marissa Rojas – T-8th – 9.925 – Beam

• Karina Muñoz – T-8th – 9.925 – Beam

• Aubrey Nick – T-10th – 9.900 – Beam

• Adeline Kenlin – T-15th – 9.900 – Uneven Bars

• Kendall LaPlante- T-15th – 9.900 – Uneven Bars

• Karina Muñoz – T-15th – 9.900 – Uneven Bars

• Adeline Kenlin – T-17 – 39.500 – All-Around

NEW FACES ON THE MAT

•  The Hawkeyes have welcomed five newcomers to the team.

•  There are four freshmen and one transfer that have joined the GymHawks for the 2024 season.

•  Iowa welcomes Olivia Dylnicki, Alyse Karenbauer, Eva Volpe, Katelyn Wiederspahn and Ilka Juk.

•  Juk joins the team as a junior after spending her first two seasons at Long Island University.  She is a two-time WCGA Scholastic All-American and qualified for NCAA Regionals in 2023 on beam.

FOLLOW THE HAWKEYES

For a behind the scenes look at the program, follow the GymHawks via social media at Facebook/IowaGymnastics, X/@IowaGymnastics, and Instagram (@IowaGymnastics).

LOOKING AHEAD

The Hawkeyes will return home on Feb. 5 to face Nebraska inside of Xtream Arena. The meet will be streamed on B1G+ and will begin at 6:30 p.m. CT.