Issue link: http://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/757416
119 W ith the regular season over a month and a half away, the University of Iowa men's gymnastics team is focused on intangible and tangible goals. With a team made up of six freshmen, four sopho- mores, three juniors, and four seniors, the intan- gible goals have to come first. "e intangible goal would be to get a great rhythm in our lineups with the five guys that are competing and their back-up routines," said sev- enth-year head coach JD Reive. Finding that rhythm won't be easy; however, as he has a squad of fresh faces eager to compete. "I have my work cut out for me to pick out line- ups this year," said Reive. "I anticipate many of our freshmen making an immediate impact. Nick Merryman and Andrew Herrador are going to be the most influential on several events just because their gymnastics is very good." In 2016, Reive's squad qualified five gymnasts for Day 2 of the NCAA Championships. While two of the five — Matt Loochtan and Jack Boyle — are lost to graduation, Reive looks to his core return- ers to lead the team to the top of the Big Ten and the NCAA. "I expect huge things out of Andrew Botto and Cory Paterson," said Reive. "Both of them are all-arounders with strength events. I'm expecting them not to just lead, but to contribute quite a bit of our counting score." With regular-season competition beginning Jan. 14 at the Windy City Invitational, the Hawkeyes are focused on building a team dynamic that will guide them throughout the season. "We have good returning leadership, but we also have a large group of freshmen," said Reive. "ere is quite a dynamic change and getting them all out there and letting them form as a team is one of the most exciting parts as a coach." Once the rhythm and team dynamic pans out, the palpable goals will follow. "e tangible goal is that we want to be in the top three of the Big Ten, and we want to be able to par- lay that into a top three or four finish at the NCAA Championships," Reive said. "If we do that first intangible goal, we are going to be set up nicely to achieve that second tangible one." e Hawkeyes debut at the Season Ticket Holder Appreciation Night on Dec. 2. e event, which will take place in Iowa's practice facility in the UI Field House, will allow the Hawkeyes to interact with fans in their training environment. "We have a lot of new skills that we are doing this year and the difficulty levels are improving," said Reive. "Staying in our practice facility not only allows us to have a more intimate interaction with our fan base, but it also allows us to do harder gymnastics by using the actual practice facility."