GymHawks ready to vault ahead
A season of injuries and inconsistency left the Iowa women’s gymnastics team in search of answers.
What you should know
Having graduated four gymnasts, including all-around competitors Jenifer Simbhudas and Kara Pinjuv, the GymHawks return as a younger but still experienced team. Newcomer Emma Stevenson heads the freshman class as Iowa tries to rebound after a disappointing season.
“We faced a lot of adversity, and a lot of underclassmen and people who haven’t competed a lot this season stepped it up and did a great job,” sophomore-to-be Jessa Hansen said.
Whom you should know
Juniors-to-be Houry Gebeshian and Rebecca Simbhudas are threats for Iowa in the all-around. Junior Arielle Sucich and Hansen, individual event competitors, could also move into the all-around competition.
Last season, Gebeshian won the all-around five times, and Rebecca Simbhudas competed in 10 of 13 all-around competitions. Hansen and Sucich were three-event competitors.
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Main rival
Iowa is 24-47 all-time against Iowa State, but the Hawks swept the season series last season for the first time since 1992.
“We have a high standard now that we’ve set, beating them twice in one year,” coach Larissa Libby said.
The bests
Iowa’s best team performance: 196.525-194.875 victory against Kentucky on March 6.
Iowa’s best individual performance: Senior Jenifer Simbhudas’ career-high 39.525 against Kentucky on March 6.
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