The University of Iowa women’s gymnastics team, ranked 22nd nationally, will travel to New Jersey for a Big Ten dual meet against Rutgers on Saturday. The competition is set to begin at 1 p.m. Central Time at Jersey Mike’s Arena.
Fans can watch the event live on B1G+ or follow real-time results on hawkeyesports.com and X (@IowaGymnastics).
In their previous outing, the Hawkeyes achieved a program record score of 197.225 in a win over No. 30 Nebraska, who scored 196.825. Iowa secured victories in vault (49.175), bars (49.425), and floor (49.375). Senior Gianna Masella tied her career-high with a 9.900 to claim the vault title, while sophomore Aurélie Tran and freshman Sophie Schriever shared the bars title with scores of 9.925 each. Senior Emily Erb shared the floor title with a season-high 9.925, and Tran won the all-around with a season-best score of 39.500.
Rutgers enters this meet holding a 5-3 overall record and is ranked No. 40 nationally, averaging a season score of 194.804 points per meet. The Scarlet Knights recently posted their highest score this season—196.175—against No. 24 Maryland but have recorded conference losses to Ohio State, Penn State, and Washington.
Iowa begins week six as the nation’s No. 22 team overall, ranking No. 15 on both vault and bars, and No. 24 on floor exercise events.
Aurélie Tran is currently fifth in the country and second in the Big Ten on bars with an average score of 9.900, while Sophie Schriever stands at sixteenth nationally and fourth in conference all-around rankings after posting her career-high total of 39.475.
The Hawkeyes have continued to break records this season by setting new program marks for total team score (197.225) against Nebraska and tying their best-ever bars score (49.426). Their performance at Minnesota also matched the sixteenth-best mark in school history with a total of 196.775 points.
Tran has led Iowa this year with nine event titles across multiple disciplines and was named Iowa’s female Student-Athlete of the Month for January after competing in every all-around event so far this season.
Freshman Sophie Schriever has been notable as well; she is currently Iowa’s only freshman competing in all-around events and has captured four individual titles while setting new personal bests across three events during each meet.
Fifth-year gymnast JerQuavia Henderson returned successfully to competition after two years away from action, earning titles on vault, beam, and all-around since her comeback.
Head coach Jen Llewellyn is now leading her second season with Iowa after guiding them from being picked tenth in preseason polls to finishing fifth both during regular season play and at Big Ten Championships last year.
Assistant coaches Craig Ballard, Brenna Brooks, and Kyle Grable were recognized as Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association Assistant Coaches of the Year for their region following their first seasons alongside Llewellyn.
The Hawkeyes welcomed four freshmen to their roster this year: Maggie Ball from Oklahoma; Daisy Bowles from Nevada; Stella DePaola from Arizona; and Sophie Schriever from Utah.
After facing Rutgers this weekend, Iowa will return home on February 21st for another Big Ten matchup against No.16 Penn State at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
