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131 T he University of Iowa men's gymnastics team closed the door on a successful 2017 season that included eight gymnasts quali- fying for day two of the NCAA Championships, a silver medalist at Big Ten Championships, and a total of 23 individual event titles. e Hawkeyes competed in the NCAA Champi- onships in West Point, New York, on April 21-22. On day one, Iowa competed in the team qualifiers, placing fourth overall with a score of 412.500. e squad missed the cut for team finals, but eight Hawkeyes and a combined 17 routines qualify for event finals. "e goal was to go in as a team," Iowa head coach JD Reive said. "We performed as well as we were going to. We put it out there and we le it out there. It was 100 percent. e NCAA Champion- ships was one of our best meets of the season." Senior Andrew Botto (all-around), senior Cory Paterson (parallel bars, high bar) redshirt junior Mark Springett (rings), junior Austin Hodges (pommel horse, high bar), junior Dylan Ellsworth (rings, vault), sophomore Kevin Johnson (pommel horse), sophomore Rogelio Vazquez (parallel bars), and freshman Nick Merryman (pommel horse, rings) qualified for day two. Botto and Paterson were the top performers for Iowa. Botto finished 14th in the all-around (80.850) and ninth on rings (14.450), while Paterson scored a season-high 14.450 on parallel bars (10th) and notched a 12th place finish on high bar (14.200). At the Big Ten Championships on April 7-8 in Champaign, Illinois, Iowa placed sixth with an overall score of 402.150. Five gymnasts qualified for individual finals the following day. Botto (rings), Paterson (high bar), Springett (rings), junior Elijah Parsells (pommel horse) and Ellsworth (vault) placed in the top 10 of their re- spective events to make it to day two. Paterson led the way for Iowa, earning a silver medal on high bar (14.350) to earn second-team All-Big-Ten ac- colades. Sophomore Jake Brodarzon was honored with Iowa's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. Iowa finished the season ranked No. 7 on road- tonationals.com. In the final College Gymnastics Association Weekly Coaches Poll on April 10, the Hawkeyes were ranked No. 8. As a team, the Hawkeyes ended the season ranked No. 5 on pom- mel horse, No. 6 on vault, No. 7 on rings and high bar, No. 9 on parallel bars, and No. 13 on floor. Five freshmen found their way into the Iowa lineup in 2017, with Andrew Herrador and Nick Merryman competing in every meet for the Hawk- eyes. Andrew Herrador made the lineup on floor, pommel horse, vault, and high bar. He won the event title and tallied a season-high 14.400 on floor against Penn State on March 25 and won the high bar title with a season-high 14.150 against Nebraska on March 4. Merryman made the lineup on pommel horse, rings, parallel bars, and high bar. Merryman advanced to day two of the NCAA Championships on pommel horse and rings, finishing 37th (12.950) and 39th (13.250) respec- tively. "Competing in the postseason was a phenomenal learning experience for the freshmen," said Reive. "It was great for all of the guys to be there and see it. I believe we dipped our toes in it and now it's time to dive in. It was very motivating and we're ready to go back and get to work for this time next year." e Hawkeyes return 11 letterwinners for the 2018 season, including Ellsworth, Hodges, Parsells, Bro- darzon, Johnson, Vazquez, Herrador, Merryman, and freshmen Mitch Mandozzi, Brandon Wong, and Josh Zeal.