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Looking to the Next Level By Patrick Sojka T he University of Iowa men's gymnastics program is aiming to go to the next level entering its third year under head coach JD Reive. Last year, Reive guided three Hawkeyes — Javier Balboa, Broderick Shemansky, and Anton Gryshayev — to the NCAA Championships. He coached Shemansky to first-team All-Big Ten honors as the Hawkeyes hosted the Big Ten Championships at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Gryshayev also earned Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honors (March 26), becoming the first Hawkeye to garner the award since 2009. As a team, Iowa was one of 12 squads selected to compete at the 2012 National Collegiate Men's Gymnastics National Qualifier. Iowa broke four more individual school records and six Hawkeyes (Balboa, Todd Becker, Angelo Bronzino, Matt McGrath, Adam Wilson, Samuel Wright) were named Academic All-Big Ten. The six academic honorees marked the most for the program since 2006-07. During Reive's first season, the Hawkeyes broke four team records and five individual records. Six gymnasts punched their tickets to compete individually at the NCAA Championships and Reive coached his first Hawkeye to All-American honors (McGrath). Iowa is ready to take the next step. "The goals that the team set this year are the same as mine, which is phenomenal," said Reive. "They want to be a top-three Big Ten team and a team that advances to the team finals of the NCAA Championships. It's something that they need to work very hard to achieve, but it's doable, and they really want it." The weeks leading up to the season is a key time for the squad's development heading into 2013. "We have to get some more repetition under our belts; day-in and day-out, week after week," said Reive. "We have a little down time with finals and the holidays, but we are working hard in preparation for our first meet. We are working on being comfortable, making sure the falls go away, and then start refining some things." "I feel good about where we are at," said Balboa, one of five seniors. "We are working hard to enter the season at a much better point." "I am very excited about where we are right now," said Reive. "We cannot wait to be in Carver and get people out to support these guys, because it's coming — we're going to be very good soon." The Hawkeyes open the 2013 campaign at the Windy City Invite on Jan. 19 in Chicago. Iowa opens its home slate against 2012 national runnerup Oklahoma at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Feb. 2. 21