Tuesday, Feb. 27 Gymnastics update

I'm a college student, so I don't sleep during normal sleeping hours. As a result, your latest gymnastics fix is available earlier today.

Here's a link to my article in Tuesday's Daily detailing the Cyclones performance against Illinois and Northern Illinois on Sunday:

Season-highs spring victory in Illinois

In Thursday's Daily, we're planning to release a massive two-page spread detailing this year's team and educating readers about gymnastics. We're still figuring out a way to present it on the Web site, but I'll keep you posted.

I should probably get to bed now. Like many ISU students, I have to set my alarm to ring earlier so I can allow myself time to get my car unstuck from the parking lot of my apartment building. I'm 98 percent positive the car became stuck in the snow again when I parked tonight for about the seventh time in two days.

Thanks for reading,
Cody Saveraid

Rail Jam 2007

Completely unrelated to gymnastics, Rail Jam 2007 was held on Saturday on a Welch Ave. in Ames. Primarily known as a weekend hotspot for students due to the many bars that line the street, Welch became a snowboarder's paradise on this night. Temporary fencing lined the street as snowboarders and skiers shredded down the road, jumping man-made ramps and performing tricks to varying levels of success while a crowd numbering a few hundred cheered them on.

On a night where most Ames residents saw their weekend plans change due to the massive snowstorm/icestorm, Rail Jam was the perfect distraction.

Below is a link to a photo slideshow of the event featuring the work of many of the Daily's talented photographers. Be aware that the slideshow is accompanied to music, so don't be alarmed if your speakers starting making a ruckus. Take a gander and enjoy.

Rail Jam 2007

Thanks for reading,
Cody Saveraid.

Monday Feb. 26 Gymnastics Update

Hi gang,

Here's a link to a brief I wrote in today's Daily about the Cyclones season-high performance against Illinois and Northern Illinois on Sunday. I'll have a full article on the site on Tuesday, so make sure to check back tomorrow.

Gymnasts achieve season-high scores in victories over Illinois, Northern Illinois

Here's the Cyclones.com release about the meet:
Cyclones Knock Off Illinois and NIU

From 194.425 to 196.425...what a difference a week makes. I spoke to the team by phone as they traveled back home last night, and needless to say, they were very happy with how they performed. I'll have to do more research to confirm this, but the 49.375 on bars is not just a season-high, it might even be a school record. It's the highest bars score in the past few years.

Thanks for reading. I'll post again on Tuesday.

Thanks,
Cody Saveraid

Friday Feb. 23 update

Hi folks,

Here's a link to the latest ISU gymnastics article I wrote for Friday's Daily:

Gymnasts confident floor mishaps fixed heading into Illinois

Toward the bottom of the story, head coach Jay Ronayne does a nice job of explaining how regional qualifying scores (RQS) are determined.

One other reminder - I won't be traveling to the meet this weekend, so I apologize that readers won't be able to follow live coverage on this blog. As usual, you can follow the meet through live stats on Cyclones.com (link to the right of the page).

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and that the predicted snowstorm doesn't actually hit us here in Iowa. If any of you are in the Ottumwa area Saturday night, 3XWrestling, Iowa's local independent pro wrestling promotion, will be holding its "Gold Rush" event at the National Guard Armory in Ottumwa. The card is stacked with potentially great matches, so I encourage you to check out the show. Tickets are only $10 at the door. For more information, visit 3XWrestling.com.

Thanks for reading,
Cody

Hey - you can actually comment now!

So, after encouraging readers to leave comments for the past month, I discovered today that my blog was set up so that only those of you with a Google account could leave a comment. I have now fixed the blog so that anyone can leave comments, so hopefully you all will go wild posting your own opinions.

As usual, I will have an article in Friday's Daily previewing Iowa State's gymnastics meet in Illinois against Illinois and Northern Illinois. I apologize beforehand that I will not be able to make the trek to Illinois this weekend, so I will not be able to provide live coverage of the meet. For live stats, click on the cyclones.com link to the right of the page.

I'll update again soon,
Cody Saveraid

Monday morning update - Oklahoma-Iowa State recaps

Good morning folks (well, I guess I just missed morning)

Here's two articles recapping Friday's Iowa State-Oklahoma meet in today's Daily. One details Iowa State's struggles on beam and floor exercise and the other details K.J Kindler and Lou Ball's return to Ames.

Cyclones start stong, falter in late stages versus Oklahoma

Former coaches first trip to Hilton ends in victory

It should be noted that the stories had to be sent to press before the latest rankings were released late last night. Iowa State is still holding the No. 10 spot, while Oklahoma moved up to No. 7.

Hope you enjoy the articles,
Cody Saveraid

Iowa State-Oklahoma - Final Rotation

Floor (Fourth Rotation) - 48.000 - ISU's lowest floor score of the year.
1. Megan Barnes - 9.750 - Fantastic start on floor and the score should be higher. The Sooner's first beam performer fell, possibly giving the Cyclones an opening. One more OU fall and it's a whole new ballgame.
2. Nikki Dilbert - 9.250 - Her final passed look rough, but she stayed with it admirably, even if it ended in a slow back handspring. Everything leading up to the final pass looked great.
3. Melanie Tham - 9.175 - She fell on her butt when landing her final pass. Much like Dilbert's routine, everything looked great leading up to the final pass, but her fall probably helped seal a win for Oklahoma.
4. Jasmine Thompson - 9.825 - Excellent routine, probably her best of the year.
5. Katie Sweetin - 9.250 - Read the Dilbert/Tham descriptions above. The exact same thing happened, which is unfortunate because this was shaping up to be Sweetin's best floor of the year.
6. Janet Anson - 9.925 - This was incredible. She's truly one of the best in the country, even if she gives me the occasional PR answer when I interview her.

Oklahoma earned a 49.250 on beam to finish the meet. Kiara Redmond posting a 9.050 to begin beam didn't help things for the Sooners, but the rest of the team responded. Iowa State responded in kind with their own chants when OU was on beam, so it all evened out.

Final score: Oklahoma - 196.250
Iowa State - 194.425

Thanks for joining me and look for my article in Monday's Daily,
Cody Saveraid

Iowa State vs. Oklahoma - Third Rotation

Beam (Third rotation) - 48.350 - Iowa State really struggled on beam tonight
1. Megan Barnes - 9.200 - Barnes had a very uncharacteristic fall on beam. Aside from the fall, this routine was very nicely done, but the fall just did too much damage to the score.
2. Katie Sweetin - 9.800 - Great. Her routine includes three flips onto the beam and I'll never understand how she pulls it off each meet without falling or even losing balance.
3. Jasmine Thompson - 9.750 - Thompson's body tried it's hardest to fall off the beam after a back handspirng and amazingly she kept her balance. In all honesty, her save might be the deciding factor if Iowa State wins tonight. Two falls on beam would be a crushing blow.
4. Melanie Tham - 9.150 - She saved herself on her first two almost-falls, but finally lost her balance near the end of the routine. Looks like Iowa State will have to shine on floor exercise - remember, however, that Iowa State has won many, many meets by floor comebacks.
5. Jade Kvach - 9.700 - Very good routine. Just what the Cyclones needed.
6. Janet Anson - 9.900 - Great routine. She definitely stepped up when Iowa State needed it badly.

Oklahoma earned a 48.950 on floor exercise. The Sooners implement some beautiful choreography, even if some of their music choices aren't the best. The Sex and the City theme? Come on...you can do better than that. Koncak-Schumann's music was awkward as well, but her routine was fantastic.

The Oklahoma gymnasts began chanting "SOONERS...SOONERS...SOONERS" for 5-10 seconds about halfway through each ISU routine from Jasmine on through Janet. I highly doubt this affected the Cyclones, but you have to wonder.

After three rotations, Oklahoma leads 146.975 - 146.425. Iowa State's beam, normally it's strongest event, really hurt them tonight.

Iowa State-Oklahoma Second Rotation

Bars (Second Rotation) - 49.025 - Iowa State is on a roll.

1. Megan Barnes - 9.675 - Very good routine, but I think she's had stronger. I think she failed to fully extend on a handstand mid-routine and it was missing
2. Jasmine Thompson - 9.825 - Awesome. She NAILED the landing. I bet that's the best bars routine she's had all week, including practice. Actually, every time I've seen her land it in practice this week, she stumbled, so this was much improved.
3. Katie Lasher - 9.825 - Great routine. Awesome extension throughout with a great landing.
4. Nikki Dilbert - 9.800 - I wouldn't say Nikki is the flashiest bars competitor on the team, but she has a way of making her slender, tall frame look even taller when performing. As a result,
5. Ceilia Maccani - 9.825 - She gets higher in the air each meet. By the end of the season, she'll land on top of the video board.
6. Janet Anson - 9.775 - While other Iowa State gymnasts might post a higher score on occasion, no one on the team is consistently solid as Anson.

Oklahoma earned a 49.125 on vault, though to be honest, visually there vaults didn't seem the much more impressive that Iowa State. Koncak-Schuman once again posted the lowest score on her team (well, tied with Jackie Flanery), though a 9.775 is still pretty impressive.

After two rotations, Iowa State leads, 98.075 - 97.975 in the best meet I've seen this year. The gymnastics on display tonight has been. So has the crowd, which has definitely filled out and are louder than I ever remember them being.

Talk to you again after beam,
Cody

ISU-OU First Rotation

Vault (First Rotation) - 49.025 - Excellent routines all around
1. Jasmine Thompson - 9.825 - Very good vault. It look liked she almost overstep her approach, but she compensated for an mishap beautifully while in the air.
2. Katie Sweetin - 9.725 - Truly fantastic, much better than the score dictates. One of Iowa State's best vaults all year. I've never seen someone do two consecutive front flips faster in my life. I'm not just talking about this routine, about talking about Sweetin in general. To my slightly untrained eye, this looked like one of ISU's better vaults, but admittedly, I'm not very educated in the technicalities of gymnastics.
3. Nikki Dilbert - 9.800 - This was awesome. In the span of less of a second, she managed to fluently go from almost stumbling to completely sticking the landing. Very, very impressive.
4. Katie Lasher - 9.775 - Very good vault. Iowa State is on a roll.
5. Megan Barnes - 9.850 - Great vault, once again proving that Barnes is one of the best freshman vaulters in the nation.
6. Janet Anson - 9.775 - Another great vault. In my opinion, this is the strongest Iowa State has looked on vault this year.

Oklahoma scored a 48.850 on uneven bars to begin the meet strong. Surprisingly, Oklahoma's star gymnast Brittany Koncak-Schumann scored a 9.650 on bars, the lowest on the team, dropping her score from the total.

The Sooners have very pretty uniforms, probably the coolest I've seen this season. I'm not sure how to describe other than a diagonal swirl of maroon, black and white across a maroon front.

Did you know that someone made a hip hop remix of "Crash Into Me" by the Dave Matthews Band? I didn't either, but I just heard it and it's actually an interesting mix.

See you after the second,
Cody

No. 10 Iowa State vs. No. 8 Oklahoma - Warmups

K.J. Kindler is standing 15 feet away from me in Hilton Coliseum....wearing Oklahoma warmup clothes. Needless to say, it's a little strange to see.

I've been here for 20 minutes and from what I've seen, there hasn't been any interaction whatsoever between Kindler and her former Cyclone gymnasts. As a reporter who covered ISU gymnastics last year, it's unusual to see Kindler and Lou Ball standing just feet away from their former athletes and not so much as trade a few words back and forth. Both squads appear totally focused on gymnastics tonight.

Admission is free tonight for all ISU students, faculty and staff, but snowy weather throughout central Iowa seems to be preventing the turnout I was expecting tonight. It's still about a 30-40 minutes before the first rotation, however, so maybe the crowd will pick up. SpongeBob SquarePants is in attendence, however, as someone in a SpongeBob mascot uniform is walking around. No, I don't know why.

Tonight's rotations for Iowa State:
Vault (First Rotation) -
1. Jasmine Thompson -
2. Katie Sweetin -
3. Nikki Dilbert-
4. Katie Lasher -
5. Megan Barnes -
6. Janet Anson -

Bars (Second Rotation)
1. Megan Barnes
2. Jasmine Thompson
3. Katie Lasher
4. Nikki Dilbert
5. Ceilia Maccani
6. Janet Anson

Beam (Third rotation) -
1. Megan Barnes -
2. Katie Sweetin -
3. Jasmine Thompson -
4. Melanie Tham -
5. Jade Kvach
6. Janet Anson -

Floor (Fourth Rotation) -
1. Megan Barnes
2. Nikki Dilbert -
3. Melanie Tham -
4. Jasmine Thompson -
5. Katie Sweetin -
6. Janet Anson -

Talk to you after the first rotation. Entrances are already about to start.

Thanks,
Cody

Friday morning Feb. 16 update

Good morning everyone,

Here's a link to the article I wrote about tonight's ISU-Oklahoma meet in today's Iowa State Daily:

Preview of No. 10 ISU vs. No. 8 Oklahoma

Also, here's a link to the ISU athletic department press release I refer to in the story:
Kindler leaves for Sooners

Of course, that's the story of her leaving from Iowa State's point of view. I'm sure K.J. herself has a different view on her departure, but I was unable to reach her this week and find out her take.

Thanks for reading and I hope you join me for live coverage tonight,
Cody Saveraid

Thursday, Feb. 15 update

Hi gang,

We're only one day away from K.J. Kindler and Lou Ball's highly-anticipated return to Ames. As usual, I'll be covering Friday's ISU-Oklahoma gymnastics meet live as it happens right here. My first update from the meet will come anytime between 6:15 and 6:45 (central time, for those of you on the east or west coasts).

Here's press releases from both athletic departments regarding the meet. Funny that the Iowa State release doesn't mention K.J.'s and Lou's return to Ames.

Iowa State's release
Oklahoma's release

As usual, I'll have an article previewing tomorrow's meet in Friday's Daily. I'll post a link to it when I get a chance.

Thanks for reading,
Cody Saveraid

Tuesday Update - includes links to ISU gymnastics videos

Hi folks,

The article I wrote recapping the Stanford meet and beginning to preview Friday's ISU-Oklahoma meet can be found here:
Cyclones earn season high score at Stanford quadrangular

Notice the impressive use of the world "quadrangular." I'll be completely honest - I wasn't even familiar with this word until I read it in a press release on Cyclones.com, so thank you gymnastics media relations staff. Interesting words aside, they really do a great job of communicating and helping meets run smoothly and they deserve a word of thanks now-and-then.

On YouTube, I happened upon some videos of Cyclone routines at the Stanford meet.
Katie Sweetin's floor exercise
Janet Anson's floor exercise
Melanie Tham's beam

If interested, click on the user's name or search "ISU gymnastics" to find videos of routines from Stanford, Oregon State and San Jose State.

Cyclones.com has put out a release on Iowa State cracking the top 10.
Cyclones improve to No. 10

I'll try to post a link here on Friday to my next article, which will be a more in-depth look at the athletes and coach Ronayne's thoughts on K.J. Kindler returning to Ames. Also, I'll be blogging live during Friday night's meets, so it'd be great if you joined me.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, just leave a comment and let me know.

Thanks,
Cody Saveraid

Just a head's up

Hi readers,

A article recapping Iowa State's trip to Stanford can be found on iowastatedaily.com on Tuesday. Also included in the article are thoughts from the gymnasts and coach Jay Ronayne regarding K.J. Kindler's return to Ames for Friday's ISU-Oklahoma meet.

On that note, see Friday's Daily for a more in-depth preview of the meet.

Thanks,
Cody Saveraid

Quick results of Friday's gymnastics meet

ISU Results at Stanford with Oregon State & San Jose State

Feb. 9, 2007 (Stanford, Calif.)

Name - Vault - Bars - Beam - Floor - All-Around
Janet Anson - 9.900 - 9.875 - 9.825 - 9.850 - 39.450
Megan Barnes - 9.875 - 9.725 - 9.775 - 9.675 - 39.050
Nikki Dilbert - 9.800 - 9.850 - -- - -- - --
Jade Kvach - -- - -- - * - -- - --
Katie Lasher - * - 9.875 - -- - -- - --
Ceilia Maccani - -- - 9.850 - -- - -- - --
Anna Robey - -- - -- - -- - 9.725 - --
Katie Sweetin - 9.750 - -- - 9.900 - * - --
Melanie Tham - -- - -- - 9.800 - 9.725 - --
Jasmine Thompson - 9.750 - * - 9.675 - 9.875 - --

Team Totals - 49.175 - 48.425 - 48.150 - 48.350 - 196.075

Team - Vault - Bars - Beam - Floor - Total
Stanford - 49.200 - 49.450 - 49.375 - 49.250 - 197.275
Iowa State - 49.175 - 48.425 - 48.150 - 48.350 - 196.075
Oregon State - 49.175 - 48.425 - 48.150 - 48.350 - 194.100
San Jose State - 48.450 - 48.025 - 48.725 - 47.975 - 193.175

- courtesy of courtesy of Cyclones.com and gostanford.cstv.com
* - the asterisks indicates that this gymnast had the lowest score of the six performers on the event. As you know, only the top five scores on each event count toward the team score. Stanford inexplicably did not provide live stats for the meet and only the top five scores for each team on each event were released, meaning we don't know how Kvach did on beam, Lasher did on vault, etc.

I don't know how the No. 5 team in the country can fail to provide live stats of one of the biggest meet's in the country this weekend. Totally inexcusable with the technology available in 2007.

Quick breakdown of Iowa State's performance (as much as I can give without actually watching the meet):

- 196.075 is Iowa State's highest team score of the year, topping the Cyclones 195.725 effort last weekend against Missouri. Stanford, however, truly proved its one of the best programs in the country this year, scoring a 197.275, even with all-star gymnasts Tabitha Yim and Liz Tricase not competing. Really impressive.

- Iowa State set a new season-high on vault with a 49.175.

- Janet Anson performed strong against some of the West Coast's top competition, tying for second place in the all-around (39.450). It's her highest all-around score of the year. Including Anson, five top 25 gymnasts competed in the meet. She also was part of a three-way tie for first on vault.

- Freshmen Katie Sweetin and Melanie Tham posted season-highs on beam, posting 9.900 and 9.800, respectively.

- Sophomore Jasmine Thompson posted a season-high 9.875 on floor.

- Look for a possibly shakeup in the Top 15 of the national rankings next week. Iowa State's team score is higher than No. 6 Nebraska (195.350), No. 8 Michigan (195.825), No. 12 LSU (195.575), No. 14 Arizona (195.300) and No. 16 Arkansas (195.775) posted on Friday. No. 9 Oklahoma (196.400), No. 1 Florida (197.275), and No. 4 Utah (196.575) scored higher than the Cyclones. Saturday, No. 3 Alabama travels to No. 2 Georgia, so expect them to bring the best out of each other. If Alabama doesn't top Utah's score, expect the Utes to jump to No.3. No. 7 UCLA also competes at No. 13 Denver tonight.

Finally, a quick reminder that interviews I conducted with ISU freshman Megan Barnes and head coach Jay Ronayne were posted to the Iowa State Daily Web site recently. Here's direct links to my conversations with them. You can find future Sportscasts under the "Podcasts" list on the home page of iowastatedaily.com.

Jay Ronayne interview heading into the Stanford meet
Megan Barnes interview about being recruited by Iowa State's three opponents on Friday

Thanks for reading and look for an article on Monday or Tuesday about Iowa State's experience at Stanford,
Cody Saveraid

Wednesday night update - includes recruiting news

Hi readers,

Just a quick update regarding a number of things:

- Check out www.iowastatedaily.com on Thursday for the newest Daily Sportscast. In this edition, I conduct an exclusive interview with ISU freshman gymnast Megan Barnes regarding this weekend's meet in Stanford, Calif. against No. 5 Stanford, No. 15 Oregon State and unranked San Jose State. Barnes was actually recruited by each of the school's she's competing against, so it makes for, in my opinion, an interesting interview.

- Other online exclusives on Thursday include preview articles by Noah Schmelzer and Jessi Pierce for two home athletic events. The ISU tennis team competes in Ames on Friday against Creighton and Saturday against Gustavus Adolphus, while Cyclone Women's Hockey battles Rainy River Community College at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena.

- By the way, the Daily held a poll on its Web site to determine the most popular sport to follow at Iowa State. Surprisingly (or maybe not?), Cyclone Hockey came in first place with 323 votes, good for 30 percent of the vote. It beat out such notably popular sports as ISU basketball and football, so congrats go out to Cyclone Hockey men's and women's hockey.

- Football fans caught a glimpse of the future of ISU football today with the announcement of the latest class of recruits. Chock full of JUCO transfers, head coach Gene Chizik appears to now have the personnel needed to succeed at the offensive and defensive line, as well as running back positions. Be sure to read complete coverage by Grant Wall, Brett McIntyre and Chris Conetzkey in Thursday's Daily.

Here's a break down of all the newest recruits courtesy of Sports Editor Chris Conetzkey:

The focus of National Signing Day 2007 by coach Gene Chizik and his staff was most definitely on the defensive and offensive lines. Here is a position by position break down of how the Cyclones fared yesterday.

25 recruits. 11 JUCO transfers. Rivals.com — 1 four-star recruit. 9 three-star recruits. 14 two-star recruits

Offensive Line
Alex Alvarez 6-3 290 So. OL Houston, Texas (Kilgore JC/Clear Creek) — JUCO transfer. Rivals.com two-star recruit.
Trey Baysinger 6-6 290 Fr. OL Dallas, Texas (Carter) — Rivals.com two-star recruit.
Joe Blaes 6-2 295 Jr. OL Coffeyville, Kan. (Coffeyille CC/Cherryvale) — JUCO transfer. Rivals.com three-star recruit.
James Carpenter 6-4 300 Fr. OL Hephzibah, Ga. (Hephzibah) — Rivals.com two-star recruit.
Doug Dedrick 6-5 285 So. OL Scottsdale, Ariz. (Scottsdale CC/Corona Del Sol) — JUCO transfer. Rivals.com two-star recruit.
Joseph Klerekoper 6-6 295 Fr. OL Longview, Texas (Pine Tree) — Rivals.com two-star recruit.
Joe McMahon 6-4 290 Jr. OL Joliet, Ill. (Joliet JC/Downers Grove North) — JUCO transfer. Rivals.com three-star recruit.
Kelechi Osemele 6-5 298 Fr. OL Houston, Texas (Langham Creek) — Rivals.com three-star recruit.

Defensive Tackle
Jerrod Black 6-2 285 Fr. DT Houston, Texas (Cypress Falls) — Rivals.com two-star recruit.
Michael Tate 6-5 285 Jr. DT Brenham, Texas (Blinn JC/Arkansas/Washington) — JUCO transfer. Rivals.com three-star recruit.
Chris Weir 6-3 270 Jr. DT Miami, Fla. (Independence CC/Miami Beach) — JUCO transfer. Rivals.com two-star recruit.
Patrick Neal 6-0 225 Fr. DT West Des Moines, Iowa (Valley) — Ranked as seventh overall best prospect in Iowa by Rivals.com.

Defensive End
Christopher Lyle 6-4 255 So. DE Waldorf, Md. (Butler CC/Westlake) — JUCO transfer. Rivals.com three-star recruit.
Randy Kellman 6-5 260 Fr. DE Kissimmee, Fla. (Celebration) — Rivals.com two-star recruit. Runs 4.7 40-yard dash.

Linebacker
Curtiz Mathis 6-3 215 Fr. LB Harvey, Ill. (Thornton Township) — Rivals.com two-star recruit.
Anthony Green 6-0 220 Fr. LB Missouri City, Texas (Fort-Bend Marshall) — Rivals.com two-star recruit.
Fabian Brown 6-3 230 Fr. LB Des Moines, Iowa (Roosevelt) — Rivals.com three-star recruit.
Michael Bibbs 6-2 230 Jr. LB Atlanta, Ga. (Copiah-Lincoln/Booker T. Washington) — JUCO transfer. Rivals.com two-star recruit.

Defensive Back
Allen Bell 6-2 190 Jr. DB Tallahassee, Fla. (Independence CC/ James Rickards) — JUCO transfer. Rivals.com three-star recruit.
A.J. Matthews 6-3 185 Fr. DB/LB Clearwater, Fla. (Countryside) — Rivals.com two-star recruit.

Quarterback
Phillip Bates 6-2 189 Fr. QB Omaha, Neb. (North) — Scrambling QB that rushed for 517 yards. Rivals.com three-star recruit.

Running Back
Jamicah Bass 6-1 210 Jr. RB Altamonte Springs, Fla. (El Camino CC/Lyman) — JUCO transfer. No. 2 JUCO running back by SuperPrep. Rivals.com four-star recruit.
Cameron Bell 6-1 215 Fr. RB Round Rock, Texas (Stony Point) — Rivals.com two-star recruit.

Wide Reciever
Wallace Franklin 6-3 175 Jr. WR Beaumont, Texas (Butler CC/Ozen) — JUCO transfer. Rivals.com three-star recruit.
Alex Sandvig 6-0 180 Fr. WR West Des Moines, Iowa (Valley) — Rivals.com two-star recruit.

- Finally, a quick reminder that there WILL NOT be live coverage of Friday's gymnastics meet in this blog. Believe or not, the college newspaper I work for isn't paying the travel and lodging fees required to send me out to California for the meet. You're shocked....I know. Live coverage will certainly return for Iowa State's home meet against Oklahoma on Feb. 17.

Thanks for reading,
Cody Saveraid

Fourth Rotation - Floor Exercise

Floor (Fourth Rotation) - 48.925
1. Megan Barnes - 9.775 - Fantastic routine which would have scored higher if she wasn't the lead-off. The crowd loves her music, which is very catchy, and they gave her a very loud pop as she finished after clapping along for the whole performance.
2. Melanie Tham - 9.800 - Very cool routine with a number of unique, rhythmic arm movements. Excellent debut on floor for the Ontario native.
3. Anna Robey - 9.650 - Very good routine. A few very slight missteps, but impressive overall.
4. Jasmine Thompson - 9.800 - Great routine. She was definitely feeling it tonight.
5. Katie Sweetin - 9.050 - Her first pass featured one of the most perfect flips I've ever seen. On her second pass, however, she fell on her butt after flipping, probably due to entering the rotation too hard and fast.
6. Janet Anson - 9.900 - The best gymnast in Iowa State history put the final nail in the coffin. She's probably the best athlete I've ever seen when it comes to smiling great under pressure - I'll check the stats on that later. Her routine was no doubt helped by teammate Jennifer Salfen re-braiding Anson's hair five minutes before she took her turn on floor

Missouri struggled under pressure on beam, earning a 48.350 to finish a much closer than expected meet.

Final score: Iowa State - 195.725
Missouri - 195.025

No. 11 Iowa State vs. No. 20 Missouri - Third Rotation - Balance Beam

Missouri has fun tiger growls before each of gymnasts floor music. The first Tiger, however, fell on her first pass, so maybe the growl scared her.

Much props to Missouri gymnast Ashley Khederian for using a Guns n' Roses/ The Who mix for floor music. Definitely the best mix I've heard for floor this year.

Beam (Third rotation) - 49.125 - Really impressive routines overall and Iowa State has claimed a slim lead.
1. Megan Barnes - 9.000 - Fell off beam mid-routine following a front flip.
2. Katie Sweetin - 9.875 - Tremendous routine. Her beam routine is one of Iowa State's best. An impressive number of flips for a performance on beam.
3. Jasmine Thompson - 9.850 - She's really, really popular with the Iowa State crowd and actually gets the loudest reaction. Really cool, funky routine that incorporates some impressive dance elements. She nailed the dismount as well.
4. Melanie Tham - 9.700 - Impressive college debut. A few stumbles, but she did a nice job overall and nailed a tremendous dismount.
5. Jade Kvach - 9.825 - Her best beam I've seen this year. She did a really great job on a very technical routine.
6. Janet Anson - 9.875 - Excellent routine. Very, very crisp, with the only noticeable error being a slight back step upon landing her dismount. She planted her feet a little far off the edge of the beam before jumping which lead to the rough landing. It didn't affect her score as much as I expected.

Missouri earned a 48.950, which is higher than I thought they would score on floor.

After three rotations, Iowa State carries a slim lead, 146.800 - 146.675. It's critical Iowa State performs strong on floor exercise.

Second Rotation - Uneven Bars

Bars (Second Rotation) - 49.050 - Iowa State's best bars score of the year. Excellent routines.
1. Megan Barnes - 9.700 - Great dismount and a very good routine, but she might lose a point or two for some little errors in the middle.
2. Jasmine Thompson - 9.325 - Good routine, though a little rough in spots. Took a small step upon landing and it looked like she had some trouble with a handstand.
3. Katie Lasher - 9.850 - Great routine.
4. Nikki Dilbert - 9.850 - Another great routine. This is shaping up to be ISU's best bars score this season.
5. Ceilia Maccani - 9.850 - She still gets AMAZINGLY high in the air off bars. Wow....what a routine! Right now, she's ISU's most exciting bars performer.
6. Janet Anson - 9.800 - Fourth awesome routine in a row.

Missouri earned a 48.950 on vault.

After two rotations, Missouri leads, 97.725 - 97.675. Iowa State definitely made up a lot of ground on bars.

No. 11 Iowa State vs. No. 20 Missouri - First Rotation

Vault (First Rotation) - 48.625
1. Jasmine Thompson - 9.825 - Great vault. Excellent start.
2. Katie Sweetin - 9.675 - Really cool tucked double front flip. She definitely knows how to use her small height (4'10") to her advantage.
3. Nikki Dilbert - 9.500 - Good twist, rough landing. Landing lacked balance and she took a large step back.
4. Katie Lasher - 9.525 - Very uncharacteristic stumble upon landing. She's visibly disappointed.
5. Megan Barnes - 9.850 - Great vault. The freshman from Salt Lake City definitely stepped up to get vault back on track for the Cyclones.
6. Janet Anson - 9.750 - Good vault. Very slight hop upon landing.

Missouri looked great on uneven bars, earning a 48.950 to begin the meet. Coming into the meet, bars has been Missouri's weakest event.

No. 11 Iowa State vs. No. 20 Missouri - Warmups

Both teams look good in warmups. Here's a look at tonight's projected lineups for the Cyclones. With the injuries to Ashley Alden and Ashley Kent, the beam lineup has been totally re-organized. Freshman Melanie Tham also makes her college gymnastics debut tonight competing on beam and floor exercise.

Vault (First Rotation) -
1. Jasmine Thompson -
2. Katie Sweetin -
3. Nikki Dilbert-
4. Katie Lasher -
5. Megan Barnes -
6. Janet Anson -

Bars (Second Rotation)
1. Megan Barnes
2. Jasmine Thompson
3. Katie Lasher
4. Nikki Dilbert
5. Ceilia Maccani
6. Janet Anson

Beam (Third rotation) -
1. Megan Barnes -
2. Katie Sweetin -
3. Jasmine Thompson -
4. Melanie Tham -
5. Jade Kvach
6. Janet Anson -

Floor (Fourth Rotation) -
1. Megan Barnes
2. Melanie Tham -
3. Anna Robey -
4. Jasmine Thompson -
5. Katie Sweetin -
6. Janet Anson -

See you after the first rotation,
Cody

Injury update heading into Friday's gymnastics meet

Iowa State is dealing with two key injuries heading into Friday night's meet vs. Missouri at Hilton Coliseum. Sophomore Ashley Kent tore her ACL after landing a dismount off of uneven bars two weeks ago against Nebraska. She had surgery earlier this week and is expected to be out for the season.

Ashley Alden is dealing with her own injury woes. The senior suffered a possible sprained ankle while tumbling in practice last week. It's unknown to me how serious the injury is yet, but Alden and head coach Jay Ronayne excpect her to return to action by the end of the month.

With Kent, the Cyclones anchor on balance beam, and Alden, the Cyclones highest-ranked beam performer (she's ranked 10th in the nation on beam) out of action it will be interesting to see how Iowa State's respond on the 4-inch wide platform. As of Thursday, Ronayne was unsure himself who would be in his beam rotation Friday night, only telling me "it will be a surprise."

Friday 's meet starts at 7 p.m. I'll be doing live coverage in this blog, so check it out if you wish.

See Friday's Daily for a full preview of Friday's meet, including further details on Kent and Alden's injuries and how the Cyclones plan to respond.

Thanks for reading and stay warm,
Cody Saveraid