The University of Iowa women’s gymnastics team, ranked 22nd nationally, secured a Big Ten victory over Rutgers with a score of 196.725-195.700 on Saturday at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, New Jersey.
Iowa achieved event wins on both bars and beam, posting scores of 49.325 and 49.225 respectively. The team’s bar performance tied for the eighth-best in program history.
Sophomore Aurélie Tran claimed the vault title with a personal best score of 9.900. Sydney Turner, also a sophomore, matched her career-high with a 9.900 to win the beam title.
Turner finished second in the all-around competition with a total score of 39.450. Tran and freshman Sophie Schriever shared third place overall, each scoring 39.375.
In the bars event, three Iowa gymnasts—senior Gianna Masella (who tied her career high), Turner (season best), and freshman Daisy Bowles—shared second place with scores of 9.875. Schriever and Tran followed closely behind with matching scores of 9.850.
On vault, Iowa posted a team score of 49.000, led by Tran’s top mark of 9.900. Turner and fifth-year gymnast JerQuavia Henderson contributed scores of 9.800 each, while Masella, Schriever, and senior Avery Chambers added scores of 9.750 apiece.
The Hawkeyes continued their momentum on floor exercise with a team score of 49.175. Schriever set a new personal record with a score of 9.925 to take second overall in the event; Turner earned third place with a score of 9.875.
On beam, Iowa concluded the meet strongly with Turner leading at 9.900 points; freshman Stella DePaola scored a 9.850 in her debut to share second place alongside Schriever.
Head coach Larissa Libby commented on the team’s performance: “I am really proud of the team’s total performance today and thrilled with such a great road score. We obviously dealt with an injury during floor, so I am especially proud of how this team came together and stayed unified through that adversity. I couldn’t have asked for a better road score, and I’m pleased that we were able to finish strong.”
Next up for Iowa is a home meet against No.16 Penn State on February 21 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena starting at 5 p.m., which will be streamed live on B1G Network.
