Notes: GymHawks Set to Compete at NCAA Regionals

THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa Gymnastics team will travel to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, for the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional on Friday, April 4. The Hawkeyes will compete in session one at 1 p.m. CT inside Coleman Coliseum. Iowa will face No. 6 Cal, No. 11 Alabama, and North Carolina. The top two teams from each session will advance to the regional final on Sunday, April 6.

FOLLOW LIVE
• All Regional coverage will be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required).
• Fans can follow along via live results at hawkeyesports.com or via X (@IowaGymnastics).

LAST TIME OUT
• The GymHawks scored a 196.775 at the 2025 Big Ten Championships to finish first in session II and fifth place overall.
• Eight GymHawks matched or surpassed their season-highs at the meet.
• Freshman Aurélie Tran earned a spot on the All-Championship Team for bars, while senior Haley Tyson was named to the All-Championship Team on floor.
• Tran claimed the all-around title in session II, sixth overall, posting a career-best, 39.525.
• Senior Ilka Juk tied for sixth overall on beam overall after scoring season-high 9.925.
• Iowa posted a season-high 49.275 on bars.

PREVIEWING THE MEET
• No. 6 Cal enters the meet with an 28-3 record.
• The Golden Bears are ranked 9th on vault, 4th on bars, 8th on beam, and 7th on floor, nationally.
• No. 11 Alabama enters the meet with a 6-9 record.
• The Crimson Tide rank 7th nationally on vault, 12th on bars, 17th on beam, and 8th on floor.
• North Carolina enters the meet with a 7-8 record.
• The Tar Heels rank 22nd on vault, 14th on bars, and 23rd on beam, nationally.

FRESHMAN PHENOM
• Freshman Aurélie Tran earned First Team All-Big Ten and All-Freshman team honors
• Tran has earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors three this season (1/14, 1/28 and 3/18).
• Tran won 13 event titles in the regular season. She was the only GymHawk to compete in the all-around in all 11 meets this season, where she brought home four event titles.
• She ranks eighth in the conference on bars and 20th on beam.
• Tran scored a 9.900 or higher six times in the 2025 season.

O CANADA!
• The Hawkeyes have four Canadians on the roster for 2025, including three 2024 Olympians in Cassie Lee, Aurélie Tran and Sydney Turner.
• Lee and Tran helped Canada to a fifth place finish in the team competition at the 2024 Olympics. Turner was a traveling alternate.
• Vancouver native, Ilka Juk has three top-three finishes across bars and beam this season with one beam title.
• Lee has three top-three finishes on beam this season winning the a share of the event title at Nebraska scoring a 9.875. She set a season-high at the Zou to the Lou meet scoring a 9.900
• Turner has five top-three finishes on bars posting a season-high 9.925 against Rutgers.

HAWKEYES IN THE RANKINGS
• Junior Karina Muñoz ranks 52nd nationally and 10th in the Big Ten on vault with and National Qualifying Score (NQS) of 9.875. She ranks 11th in the Big Ten in the all-around with an NQS of 39.180.
• Junior Emily Erb ranks seventh in the Big Ten on floor with an NQS of 9.910, while junior Hanna Castillo ranks 23rd in the Big Ten on floor with an NQS of 9.875.
• Fifth-year Adeline Kenlin ranks 17th in the conference on the beam with an NQS of 9.870.
• Freshman phenom Aurélie Tran ranks in the top-25 on three events in the Big Ten with an NQS of 9.870 on beam (17th), 9.905 on bars (5th) and 39.400 in the all-around (7th).

A NEW ERA OF IOWA GYMNASTICS
• Jen Llewellyn was named the fifth head coach in program history on June 6, 2024
• Coach Llewellyn came to Iowa with 13 years of head coaching experience including multiple postseason appearances.
• Along with a new head coach, the Hawkeyes have a brand new staff that includes Craig Ballard, Brenna Brooks and Kyle Grable.
• Ballard spent the last 13 seasons on staff at Kent State University. Brooks was a student-athlete under Llewellyn at Washington and was an assistant coach in 2024. Grable was on staff at UCLA the past three seasons and was a successful club coach for 15 years prior to that.
• In her first season as head coach, Jen Llewellyn led the Hawkeyes to a fifth-place finish at Big Ten Championships and the regular season after being picked to finish 10th
• The GymHawks started the season ranked 29th in the preseason poll and finished 23rd and qualified for regionals as a team with an NQS of 196.430
• The staff has the program around after going 2-7 the previous year the Hawkeyes went 5-4 in Big Ten competition this season.
• The GymHawks have now made 25 consecutive NCAA Regional appearances (as a team or individuals).

STRONG RETURNING CORE
• The Hawkeyes boast a roster full of returners including 2024 NCAA Regional qualifiers Emily Erb, Ilka Juk and Karina Muñoz.
• Erb was a qualifier on floor with an NQS of 9.895. As a sophomore she had three top-three finishes with a season high of 9.950
• Juk qualifed for regionals on beam for the second time in her career with a NQS of 9.900 and a season-high of 9.925. She was also a second team all-Big Ten honoree.
• Muñoz was an all-Big Ten first team selection after competing in the all-around in six meets. She had an NQS 39.470. She won 14 event titles and posted 30 top-three finishes in 2024. She competed in the all-around in six meets and took home three titles. She posted 11 scores of a 9.900 or higher.
•Eva Volpe returns for her sophomore season after a strong collegiate debut where she was named Big Ten Freshmen of the Week three times.

IN THE RECORD BOOKS
Six Hawkeyes are in the Iowa record books. They are as follows:
• JerQuavia Henderson - T-9th - 9.925 - Vault
• Karina Muñoz- T-9th - 9.925 - Vault
• Aurélie Tran - T-2nd - 9.950 - Uneven Bars
• Karina Muñoz – T-2nd – 9.950 – Uneven Bars
• JerQuavia Henderson - T-8th - 9.925 - Uneven Bars
• Sydney Turner - T-8th - 9.925 - Uneven Bars
• Adeline Kenlin -T-1st- 9.975- Beam
• Adeline Kenlin -T-3rd- 9.950- Beam
• Marissa Rojas – T-9th – 9.925 – Beam
• Karina Muñoz – T-9th – 9.925 – Beam
• Adeline Kenlin -T-9th- 9.925- Beam
• Ilka Juk - T-9th- 9.925 - Beam
• Adeline Kenlin– T-9th – 9.925 – Beam
• JerQuavia Henderson – T-9th – 9.925 – Beam
• JerQuavia Henderson – T-1st– 9.975 – Floor
• Emily Erb - T-1st - 9.975 - Floor
• JerQuavia Henderson – T-6th– 9.950 – Floor
• Hanna Castillo - T-6th - 9.950 - Floor
• Emily Erb - T-6th - 9.950 - Floor
• Karina Muñoz – T-8th – 39.575 – All-Around
• Adeline Kenlin – T-8th – 39.575– All-Around

UP NEXT
The top two teams from each regional, along with the top all-around competitors and top event specialist on each event who are not on an advancing team, will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships on April 17 and 19 in Fort Worth, Texas.