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35 E very year, the University of Iowa women's gymnastics team is infused with new talent, new goals, and a new journey. When the GymHawks enter Gill Coliseum for an NCAA Regional in Corvallis, Oregon, on April 4-6, it will be one of the team's final meets in a journey like no other. Iowa welcomed seven freshmen this year and every one competed in a meet. "When you have a group of freshmen who carry the weight in competition, how can you expect them to get the culture and philosophy before they ever experience it?" Iowa head coach Larissa Libby said. roughout the season, the freshmen GymHawks were trying to absorb and understand that culture. At the Big Five Meet on Feb. 22, they finally felt it. "It wasn't that we won, the score was great, or that we got into the night session," Libby said. "It allowed them to be 100-percent crazy, silly, and do good gymnastics while doing it." e GymHawks won the meet with a season- high final score of 196.450 to qualify for the night session at the Big Ten Championships, where they placed sixth with a score of 196.075. "at was a defining statement coming out of Big Fives," Libby added. "ey get it, know what that feels like, and they understand it in a competitive setting. at was a pivotal moment for the freshmen to understand who they really were. at's where your power is, there is only one you, nobody can take that away from you." Not only was Big Fives an important moment for the freshmen, it was a bigger moment for the entire team. "It was a catapult for them, realizing that it wasn't all talk," Libby said. Senior Nicole Chow, a second-team All-Big Ten honoree, scored 9.900 on bars to help the GymHawks score 49.375 on bars at Big Fives, the third-best in program history. Chow was selected as an individual to compete on bars at the NCAA Regionals. In addition to Chow, three other GymHawks qualified for individual events at the NCAA Regional. ey include freshman Jax Kranitz on bars, freshman Lauren Guerin on floor, and junior Clair Kaji on beam and floor. Yet individual thinking is the last thing on the mind of any GymHawk. "We want to hit the first day hard and move onto the second day, that's the goal," Chow said. "We want to build off of that momentum, finish top two on the second day, and make it to the last day. "at will be three days of competing, but we are ready. We've been preparing all season, we've been progressively getting better as we go, and everyone knows their roll. We're a well-oiled machine." e GymHawks are set to compete April 4 at 4 p.m. (CT) inside Gill Coliseum in a dual, hoping to make it to the second round on April 5 at 9 p.m. (CT) against Florida, Oregon State, and Stanford. "We want to put it all out there, every time we perform it could be our last chance this season," Kranitz said. "It makes us think less about trying to be perfect and nail all the details and just go for it." APRIL SCHEDULE April 4-6 NCAA Regional (Corvallis, Ore.)