HAWK TALK

May 2015

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133 Sophomore Mollie Drenth earned the first Big Ten Event Specialist of the Week honor of her career on March 16. Drenth was the first GymHawk to earn a weekly conference honor since Feb. 11, 2013, when current junior Alie Glover was named Freshman of the Week. Five GymHawks also received individual conference awards following the Big Ten Championship. Drenth, Glover, senior Sydney Hoerr, and sophomore Angel Metcalf were named to the All-Championship Team, while junior Opua Calucag collected the Sportsmanship Award. Iowa has only had one other gymnast named to the All- Championship Team (Emma Stevenson, 2012). e GymHawks finished their season on a high note with NCAA Regional competition at Auburn Arena in Auburn, Alabama. Iowa collected a fih-place regional finish (194.475), with five GymHawks placing in the top 15 for individual events. On the season, Iowa collected eight conference wins against Minnesota (twice), Maryland (twice), Rutgers (twice), Michigan State, and Ohio State. Last season, the GymHawks collected a single conference win against Michigan State at the Big Ten Championships. "is team has had an amazing season and for that I will always be proud," said head coach Larissa Libby. "We will go back and we will be stronger next year." A t the beginning of the 2015 season, the University of Iowa women's gymnastics team had one goal in mind: qualify as a team for regional competition. Aer missing the cut last year, the GymHawks were determined to keep history from repeating itself. Along the way to accomplishing their team goal, the Hawkeyes had one of their most successful seasons. Iowa was ranked in the top 25 for six consecutive weeks, and ended the season ranked No. 23 nationally. It is the program's first Top 25 ranking since 2012 in a field of 80 women's gymnastics teams in the nation. e GymHawks also closed the season ranked 16th as a team on the uneven bars (49.175 average score) and 21st on beam (49.010). Iowa started postseason strong with a season-high score of 196.500 at the Big Ten Championships on March 21. e GymHawks finished first in the morning session and fih overall — the team's best championship team result since 2010. e team's performance marked the highest team score for the program at the conference championship since March 20, 2004. Despite facing tough competition, including six ranked teams, five GymHawks tallied 10 season- best scores and seven placed in the top 26 in the competition. While the team was successful, stand out performances earned some GymHawks individual honors. Aer her performance at the Big Five meet, senior Sydney Hoerr earned Second-Team All-Big Ten accolades for the second year in a row.

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