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Craig Ballard was named an assistant coach for the University of Iowa gymnastics team on July 11, 2024.
2025
In his first season at Iowa, Ballard helped guide the Hawkeyes to a fifth-place finish at Big Ten Championships and the regular season after being picked to finish 10th. The GymHawks broke 197.00 for the first time since 2021 against Iowa State posting a 197.025, fourth highest score in program history. Ballard, along with assistant coaches Brenna Brooks and Kyle Grable were named Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) Assistant Coaches of the Year for the North Central region.
Ballard oversaw vault and floor where the Hawkeyes are ranked 23rd nationally on both events. Iowa captured five event titles on each event this season. Karina Muñoz ranked 10th in the Big Ten and 35th nationally on vault. Emily Erb ranks seventh in the conference and 34th nationally on floor. Iowa posted a season high 49.375 on floor against Illinois where four gymnasts scored a 9.900 or higher in the rotation and Emily Erb tied the program record scoring a 9.975.
Six different athletes wrote their names into the record book this season; Karina Muñoz (VT, T-9, 9.925), Aurélie Tran (UB, T-2, 9.950), Sydney Turner (UB, T-8, 9.925), Adeline Kenlin (BB, T-9, 9.925), Emily Erb (FX, T-1, 9.975), and Hanna Castillo (FX, T-6, 9.950).
Freshman Aurélie Tran earned first team all-Big Ten and all-freshman honors. Tran (bars) and senior Haley Tyson (floor) were named to the Big Ten all-championship team.
Ballard brought 17 years of coaching experience to Iowa. He joins the Hawkeyes after 13 seasons at Kent State where he served as an assistant coach for 12 seasons before being named associate head coach in 2024. Prior to Kent State, Ballard served as an assistant coach at Bowling Green and Rhode Island.
In his time with the Golden Flashes he helped lead them to six regular season Mid-American Conference championships and nine NCAA postseason appearances. During his tenure, he coached six MAC Gymnast of the Year, three MAC Senior Gymnast of the Year, three MAC Specialist of the Year, and two MAC Freshmen of the Year. Ballard was instrumental in having eight individual MAC champions and two WCGA All-Americans. In the classroom the Golden Flashes had 153 student-athletes recognized as WCGA Academic All-Americans.
Prior to his arrival at Kent State, Ballard spent three seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Bowling Green. There, Ballard helped spearhead a turnaround that saw the Falcons go from last place in the MAC to fourth and improve seven positions in the final national rankings. He guided six gymnasts to NCAA Central Regional berths in three years.
Ballard spent the 2008 season as the assistant coach/recruiting coordinator at Rhode Island, earning Eastern College Athletic Conference Assistant Coach of the Year honors as the Rams took second place at the conference championships.
Ballard got his start in collegiate coaching as a team manager/student coach at West Virginia, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in communication studies in 2006.
A native of Morgantown, W.V., Ballard and his wife, Allyson, have two sons, Reed and Carter Thomas.