Thursday April 26 update - Anson's last chance and MMA hits Hilton Coliseum

Hi folks,

As may of you know, senior gymnast Janet Anson competes in the final meet of her career this weekend as a part of individual all-around competition at the NCAA Championship. Here's a full preview I wrote in today's daily, including a list of her past accomplishments (it's very long). About the only title she hasn't held is that of national champion, so hopefully she can finish her career on the highest note possible. Her coaches and teammates have told me that they'd be really surprised if she didn't win at least one event.

Anson faces last chance to be champion

I'll update how Janet is doing throughout the weekend.


Now, for something completely different, Hilton Coliseum will play host to its first mixed martial arts event ever this weekend. Fight Sport Global has partnered with Extreme Contact Fighting to present "Coliseum Carnage 1" on Saturday at 8 p.m. The card includes 17 fights (4 amateur and 13 pro) and features quite a mix of UFC veterans and native Iowans. The event is headlined by fights featuring Des Moines-native Josh Neer, who's defeated Joe Stevenson and Melvin Guillard in UFC and is probably central Iowa's most successful fighter, and Justin Eilers, a former Iowa State football player who's fought a veritable "who's who" of heavyweight MMA competitors and has challenged for the UFC Heavyweight championship.

I'll have a story about the event in Friday's Daily. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Iowa State box office or purchasing from them online. The event is also available to watch on the Fight Sport Global website as a pay-per-view webcast.

For more info, visit Extreme Contact Fighting and Fight Sport Global

Thanks for reading,
Cody

Tuesday April 17 update - NCAA Central Regional recap

Hi readers,

Here's a link to a full recap of Iowa State's highly unusual tie with Oklahoma for second place at the NCAA Central Regional. What's really unique about this situation is that Jay Ronayne has been involved with a tie at Regionals before:

Cyclones miss Nationals

I did some research but couldn't find any other instances of two teams tying for second at Regionals besides what's mentioned in the article. Please post a comment if this is incorrect.

Even with the season over, a number of the underclassmen gymnasts were still working hard on Monday despite practice being optional this week. Janet Anson, ISU's lone representative at Nationals, looked very strong on beam and floor. Ronayne noted that Anson may re-incorporate some more difficult elements into her beam routine.

I should be visiting practice again at the end of this week or early next week, so I'll try to update again soon.

Thanks for reading,
Cody

Thursday April 12 preview - Central Region preview

Hi gang,

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. With the school year winding down, suddenly more tests and prjects are thrown into the picture. Funny how that happens.

Anyway, here's a link to my latest gymnastics article, which can be found in Thursday's Daily. It's a preview of the NCAA Central Region championship in Tuscaloosa, Ala. and details a unique way the Cyclones have motivated themselves in practice over the past couple weeks.

Now or never

Unfortunately, I won't be traveling to the meet this weekend, so I'm unable to provide live coverage. However, live stats should be available on cyclones.com.

In non-gymnastics news, members of the Iowa State Boxing Club are competing at the NCBA Nationals in Reno, Nev. this weekend. The boxing team is comprised of a wonderful bunch of student-athletes and coach Terry Dowd is one of my absolute favorite people on campus. The team, which receives little university funding, regularly hold their own against military schools that require boxing as part of their curriculum, so for them to achieve this much success is pretty remarkable. Here's a couple of articles by Daily reporter Paul Flies detailing the good-and-bad the team encountered in qualifying for Nationals.

Boxers roll with the punches to Nationals and Heavyweight struck with injury for second time

The Gene Chizik-lead ISU football team will also be in action for the first time in the annual spring football game this Saturday at 1 p.m. at Jack Trice Stadium.

Good luck to all the Cyclones this weekend. I'll do my best to update again soon.

Thanks,
Cody

Monday April 2 late night update

The ISU gymnastics team is surprisingly headed to the Central Regional, where they'll have to meet Oklahoma and former ISU coach K.J. Kindler for the third time this year, as well as a highly talented Alabama team. Here's the teams competing in Tuscaloosa on April 14:

Central Region – in Tuscaloosa, Alabama (University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa, host)

Team - National Ranking

1. Alabama - No. 3
2. Oklahoma - No. 10
3. Iowa State - No. 16
4. Michigan State - No. 19
5. Ohio State - No. 21
6. Kentucky - No. 26

I believe most fans thought the Cyclones would be competing at either the North Central Regional in Denver or even the South Central Regional in Tucson. Actually, the South Central Regional would have been a tougher draw than the Cyclones received, but Iowa State would have been the third team no matter which regional they were picked to go to.

On paper, it looks like the Cyclones face an uphill battle to earn one of the two spots for Nationals in the Central region. Having never seen Alabama compete this season, I can't speak to its performance, but the No. 3 ranking says it all. I have seen No. 10 Oklahoma, however, and they a very, very good team. The Sooner have definitely had Iowa State's number this year, defeating them 196.250 - 194.425 in Ames on Feb. 16 and outscoring them by almost 1.5 points, 195.325 to 193.975, at Big 12's last weekend. Still, Iowa State came out firing after their last two week break, posting a season-high 196.700 against Denver and Iowa on March 23. With another two week break before Regionals and fresh motivation from this past weekend's humbling experience, I expect Iowa State to score very well at Regionals. Don't count them out of the running for Nationals quite yet - they certainly have the technical skill and talent to be one of the 12 teams competing in Salt Lake City, but just need to keep the errors to an absolute minimum.

Thanks for reading. I'll try to update again soon. How about the Royals today? Demolishing the Red Sox 7-1, with the bottom of the Royals order doing the most damage. It was fantastic to watch.

Cody Saveraid

Monday April 2 morning update

Good morning and Happy Opening Day,

I have two articles in today's Daily recapping Saturday's Big 12 Gymnastics Championship:

The Good: Anson, Barnes take conference honors



The Bad: Defending champion Cyclones leave Big 12 with season-low score

Iowa State moves down one spot to No. 16 in the latest national rankings. Nebraska moves to No. 6, Oklahoma stays at No. 10 and Missouri stays at No. 18.

Later today, the Cyclones find out which NCAA Regional they'll be competing at. When the location is announced, I'll post an update here.

In other big news, today is Opening Day for many Major League Baseball teams, including the Kansas City Royals, my favorite team. The Royals will be on national TV! ESPN at 1 p.m. vs. the Boston Red Sox. In all seriousness, even though they're in the toughest divsion in baseball, I'm feeling so good about the team right now that I think they'll be closer to a playoff spot than anyone thinks. I'm excited to see the stats Alex Gordon and Ryan Shealy put up this year and David DeJesus is always dependable for a solid year. I am worried about their pitching rotation though - not a lot of depth present.

I'll update again later today. Thanks for reading,
Cody

Big 12's Fourth Rotation - Bars

Bars (Fourth Rotation) - 47.900 - A nightmare rotation for the Cyclones leads to a season low score.
1. Ceilia Maccani - 9.850 - Awesome routine. One of her highest Tkachev's of the year.
2. Melanie Tham - 8.525 - She took a hard fall soon after jumping onto the bar, but quickly got back up, only to almost immediately fall again. Very unfortunate break, but I'm sure this freshman will finish her career as a highly decorated gymnast.
3. Jasmine Thompson - 8.250 - Jasmine also fell, and Iowa State has to count a fall. Not how Iowa State wanted to finish the meet at all.
4. Nikki Dilbert - 9.775 - Great routine, slight step on landing, but should score well.
5. Katie Lasher - 9.850 - Fantastic routine. Great way to end her Big 12 career.
6. Janet Anson - 9.900 - Tremendous job on her handstands. Great routine, only a slight bobble upon landing her dismount.

Nebraska (Vault): 49.325 - I missed most of the vaulters, so it would be unfair to make an opinion. Score talks again.
Oklahoma (Beam): 48.825 - The Sooners made up for the tough time on bars here, but it wasn't enough to give K.J. Kindler her second Big 12 title in a row.
Missouri (Floor): 48.000 - The Tigers had to count a fall on floor which kept them from second place.

Final scores:
Nebraska: 196.475
Oklahoma: 195.325
Missouri: 194.450
Iowa State: 193.975 - season low

For how close all the teams were ranked coming in, they finished with much wider scoring gaps than I think anyone expected.

The Cyclones do have some good news on the individual side of things - Janet Anson tied for first with Michele Zabawa on bars and tied for second with Adrianne Perry on vault. She also tied for third on floor exercise and beam.

Emily Parsons of Nebraska won the all-around (39.650), with Anson finishing second (39.550. Oklahoma's Kiara Redmond placed third and Missouri's Adrianne Perry fourth.

In very exciting news, Megan Barnes was selected Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and Janet Anson was picked co-Big 12 Gymnast of the Year with Emily Parsons

Thanks for joining me. Check out my recap article in Monday's Daily.

Cody Saveraid

Big 12's Third Rotation - Vault

Vault (Third Rotation) - 48.875 - Great vaults, but the Cyclones badly needed a 49.
1. Jasmine Thompson - 9.675 - Good routine, but she's had better this year.
2. Katie Sweetin - 9.100 - She fell on her butt upon landing. Iowa State absolutely can't have any more mistakes.
3. Nikki Dilbert- 9.675 - Excellent vault. Just what Iowa State needed. Criminally low score.
4. Katie Lasher - 9.800 - Fantastic vault. ISU's best thus far.
5. Megan Barnes - 9.825 - Excellent vault, one of the meet's best thus far. She's only competing on vault tonight because she's still dealing with a back injury.
6. Janet Anson - 9.900 - Tremendous, tremendous, tremendous vault. The last three vaults have been outstanding.

Nebraska (Floor): 48.925 - The Huskers looked very strong on floor, and are on pace to win it all.
Oklahoma (Bars): 48.525 - I'll be completely honest - I missed all of the Sooners bars routines, so I'll let the score do the talking.
Missouri (Beam): 48.700 - The Tigers almost had a fall or two, but some impressive saves keep them in the race for second.

Barring unprecedented disaster for the other three teams, Iowa State will not be a repeat Big 12 champion and need quite a bit to happen to ensure they don't finish last.

After three rotations, here's where we stand:
Nebraska: 147.150
Oklahoma: 146.500
Missouri: 146.450
Iowa State: 146.075