Iowa State on the Road in Utah for two Meets

Who: No. 29 Iowa State (4-5, 2-2 Big 12) at Utah State (4-10, 2-0 MWC), No. 33 Boise State (8-3, 2-0 MWC), Texas Women's (3-9, 0-0 MIC)

Where: Dee Glen Smith Spectrum (10,270) – Logan, Utah

When: Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 – 8:00 p.m.

Who: No. 29 Iowa State (4-5, 2-2 Big 12) at No. 36 Southern Utah (5-8, 1-0 MPSF)

Where: America First Event Center (5,300) – Cedar City, Utah

When: Monday, Feb. 26, 2024 – 8:00 p.m.

Leading Off: No. 29 Iowa State will be on the road in Utah for two meets in four days. They will start off on Friday in a quad meet hosted by Utah State. This meet will also include No. 33 Boise State and Texas Women's University. Following this event, they will travel south to No. 36 Southern Utah to wrap up their road trip on Monday.

The Cyclones will look to get back on track in these upcoming meets. They have three straight scores of 195's and want to get back to those 196 scores they saw earlier in the year. ISU is coming off a tri-meet in which they placed 2^nd behind Denver and picked up their first road win of the season over West Virginia.

The Cyclones needed gymnasts to step in due to injury and they saw Madelyn Manternach do just that for them on the floor. She scored a 9.825, just shy of her career high. Emilie Hong also stepped up big when she tied her career high on vault with a 9.875. Head Coach Ashley Miles Greig knows they are capable of getting back to those high scores and is excited to see how her team will continue to build off each performance.

Storylines:

Iowa State came in second in the tri-meet last Sunday with their score of 195.675.
- Denver scored 197.350 and West Virginia scored 195.250.
ISU has an opportunity to pick up another road win after they saw their first of the season last time out.
Emilie Hong had the top score last time out. This came on vault her with garnering a 9.875.
- This tied Hong's previous career high while setting a new season high.
The Cyclones will have a heavy workload coming up with Friday being the first meet of two in a four-day span.

From the Notes:

Iowa State finished their regular season Big 12 slate on Sunday. They were able to go .500 with a 2-2 record.

Josie Bergstrom has been consistent on vault all season long. This has pushed her all the way up to the 18^th ranked vaulter in the country. This is highlighted by a 9.925 against Boise State, and most recently she scored a 9.825 in Morgantown.
Kaia Parker led the way on the floor with her routine achieving a 9.850. She has been consistent all year long and ISU will be leaning on her to keep scoring these marks.
The Cyclones come in ranked 29^th on Road to Nationals with their top event ranking being vault where they place 18^th nationally.

Switching Sides to the Aggies:

Head Coach Kristin White is entering her 2^nd year at the helm of Utah State gymnastics.
Utah State comes into this meet ranked 48^th and will look to raise that ranking. Their top event thus far has been on the beam where they come in at No. 41.
The Aggies top score of the year was 196.275 back in early February against Southern Utah at home.
Utah State's best gymnast this year has been Brianna Brooks. Brooks is the Aggies all-around with her top event being bars with an average score of 9.839.
White brought in seven freshmen to pair with their 12 returnees.

Switching Sides to the Broncos:

Head Coach Tina Bird is entering her 14^th season as the head coach of Boise State.
BSU comes in ranked 33^rd on RTN. Their top event is the floor where they are 23^rd in the country.
Their top score of the year came in their most recent meet with 196.650.
ISU competed with the Broncos earlier this year in which Boise State came out on top with they score of 196.525.
Bird brought in five freshmen to pair up with their 15 returnees.

Switching Sides to the Pioneers:

Head Coach Lisa Bowerman is in her 13^th year of leading the Pioneers.
TWU has seen a top score of 195.725. This came in their most recent meet in which they hosted Arkansas, Arizona, and Alabama.
The Pioneers have a young team as nine out of the 18 gymnasts are underclassmen.
ISU competed against TWU last year. The Cyclones came out victorious with their score of 195.400.

Switching Sides to the Thunderbirds

Head Coach Scott Bauman is in his 32^nd year as the leader of Southern Utah gymnastics.
The Thunderbirds started the season out slow but have really hit their groove with them seeing a 196.800 score back in early February on the road at Utah State.
SUU has jumped up in the rankings as of late all the way to No. 36. They have got the biggest contribution from their bars where they rank 26^th.
Bauman oversees a very young team that boasts 12 freshmen.

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Players Mentioned

Josie Bergstrom-Te Slaa

Emilie Hong

Madelyn Manternach

Kaia Parker

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics