Cody Saveraid: Assistant Sports Editor

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

2007-04-26T08:32:00.000-05:00

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

2007-04-17T08:19:00.000-05:00

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

2007-04-12T13:50:00.000-05:00

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

2007-04-02T23:54:00.000-05:00

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

2007-04-02T10:59:00.000-05:00

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

2007-03-31T20:38:00.000-05:00

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

2007-03-31T20:24:00.000-05:00

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

Big 12's Second Rotation - Floor Exercise

2007-03-31T19:51:00.000-05:00

Floor (Second Rotation) - 48.800 - Floor judging is extraordinarily tough tonight and it will be interesting to see how Nebraska and particularly Missouri fare with the judges. These routines were better than the scoring indicates, but this score ties for third-lowest floor score of the season.
1. Melanie Tham - 9.575 - Good routine, would have been great without a stumble forward upon landing the final pass.
2. Nikki Dilbert - 9.625 - Great routine, one of her best floor's this season. Way too low of a score.
3. Anna Robey - 9.700 - Fantastic routine, also probably her best this season and another score that's too low. Admittedly, however, the judges know much more about gymnastics than I do.
4. Jasmine Thompson - 9.800 - Excellent routine, even though she's not employing a poofy hairstyle as I discussed with her this week in practice. In practice, she didn't do anything with her hair and performed great. She said she was actually considering keeping her hair like that for Big 12's. Instead she goes the other extreme and has her hair twisted up in about 12 different spots.
5. Katie Sweetin - 9.800 - Excellent routine, also one of her best this year, which seems to be a recurring theme. If this receives less than a 9.800, than I'm speechless...and thankfully, I'm not.
6. Janet Anson - 9.875 - Extraordinary routine, should have been a 9.9 or higher. This will be tough for any gymnast here to beat, even with the score.

Nebraska (Beam): 48.925 - Michele Zabawa fell off the beam, but her teammates came through for her.
Oklahoma (Vault): 48.975 - The Sooners struggled a bit on vault, but scored well.
Missouri (Bars): 48.850 - The Tigers continued to look very strong on their second event. Keep a close eye on them.

After two rotations, here's where we stand:
Nebraska: 98.225
Oklahoma: 97.925
Missouri: 97.750
Iowa State: 97.200

Iowa State needs their opponents to really struggle in the final two rotations in order to have a shot at third, much less win.

Sorry if I'm moving slower than normal. Things are a bit delayed due to having four teams going at once.

Big 12's First Rotation - Beam

2007-03-31T19:15:00.000-05:00

Beam (First rotation) - 48.400 - No other way to put - as a unit, Iowa State struggled here. This was similar to the beam's that haunted Iowa State during the middle of the season. Surprisingly, it was two of three seniors that struggled most. The Cyclones are currently in fourth.
1. Nikki Dilbert - 9.650 - Very good routine, but I don't know if it's her strongest this year. Still, very solid and only helps the Cyclones.
2. Jasmine Thompson - 9.725 - She almost fell on her first flip, but pulled off the most incredible save I've seen all year. I mean, it could possibly be a meet-saving save. Great routine.
3. Jade Kvach - 9.300 - She toppled off the beam mid-way through her routine. Unfortunate. Everything else was very technically sound, but the fall did too much damage to the score. Without the fall, it's a 9.8.
4. Katie Sweetin - 9.800 - Excellent routine. ISU really needed her to step up, and she certainly did.
5. Ashley Alden - 9.350 - Another meet-saving save here. If she would have fallen, it would have crushed Iowa State's chances of winning. Even having to save a fall, this was a decent routine, but the Cyclones needed more. Personally, I think her score was too low, but the judging is always tougher at the more important meets.
6. Janet Anson - 9.875 - Excellent routine and really helps ISU's overall score.

Nebraska (Bars): 49.300 - Emily Parsons looked incredible. Fantastic dismount, one I haven't seen anyone else use all year. The rest of the Huskers looked great as well.
Oklahoma (Floor): 49.000 - The Sooners looked very dominate on floor. Very, very few mistakes.
Missouri (Vault): 48.900 - The Tigers looked very strong on vault. Impressively strong, to be honest. They're certainly in this thing as of now. Missouri's Tiger mascot uniform is ugly and needs to be updated.

Big 12 Championships - Storylines

2007-03-31T19:07:00.000-05:00

A bunch of interesting storylines present here tonight:

- Can Iowa State defend it's Big 12 Championship win last year with a completely different squad?
- Can K.J. Kindler win two Big 12's in a row with two different teams?
- Can Missouri, the biggest underdog here, shock everyone and win before a home crowd?

Even on the individual side of things, Nebraska's Emily Parsons has been on an absolute tear this year - can she win three individual championships or will she be derailed by Janet Anson (ISU), Brittany Koncak-Schumann (OU) or Adrianne Perry (MU)?

We'll know in two hours.

See you after the first rotations,
Cody

Big 12 Championships - March 31st

2007-03-31T18:12:00.000-05:00

Hi folks,

Here's Iowa State's lineup, as well as each team's rotation order:

Beam (First rotation) -
1. Nikki Dilbert -
2. Jasmine Thompson -
3. Jade Kvach -
4. Katie Sweetin -
5. Ashley Alden
6. Janet Anson -

Nebraska (Bars):
Oklahoma (Floor):
Missouri (Vault):

Floor (Second Rotation) -
1. Melanie Tham
2. Nikki Dilbert -
3. Anna Robey -
4. Jasmine Thompson -
5. Katie Sweetin -
6. Janet Anson -

Nebraska (Beam):
Oklahoma (Vault):
Missouri (Bars):

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

Nebraska (Floor):
Oklahoma (Bars):
Missouri (Beam):

Bars (Fourth Rotation)
1. Ceilia Maccani
2. Melanie Tham
3. Jasmine Thompson
4. Nikki Dilbert
5. Katie Lasher
6. Janet Anson

Nebraska (Vault):
Oklahoma (Beam):
Missouri (Floor):

This is my first trip to the Hearnes Center and it's a very unique building. I really like the bowl shape of arena - should lead to great crowd acoustics. FSN's already started filming some intros to open the broadcast - it's odd to see national television being taped just five feet in front of me. I did see that Janet Anson filmed an interview prior to the meet. Hopefully I won't be shown on TV because I'm dealing with an awkward facial hair situation today - in my rush to leave this morning, I forget to quickly shave.

Everyone looked strong in warmups, though Iowa State did stuggle a bit on vault. The Cyclones finish on bars though, which is their strongest event based on RQS, so a very strong bars performance could potentially win it for Iowa State.

Should be an awesome meet. See you after the first rotation. I'll keep up with the other school's scores as best I can, but with all apparatus' being used at the same time, it's going to be fantastically hectic.

Saturday morning update - March 31

2007-03-31T09:07:00.000-05:00

Hi folks,

Just a quick update before I leave for the Big 12 Gymnastics Championship in Columbia, Mo. Here's a link to my preview of the meet in Friday's Daily:
ISU gymnasts set to defend Big 12 Championship

I'll be blogging live during tonight's meet, so join me again then.

Thanks for reading,
Cody Saveraid

Monday March 26 Update

2007-03-26T13:04:00.000-05:00

Hi folks,

Here's a link to my article in today's Daily recapping Friday's meet: Sensational Seniors

Other interesting notes from Friday's Senior Night meet:
- Freshman Nikki Dilbert earned or tied season-highs in all four events and the all-around.
- Senior Janet Anson earned or tied three season-highs while winning all but one event.
- In total, six Cyclones combined to earn or tie 13 season-highs
- By defeating Iowa, Iowa State earned two more points in the Hy-Vee Cy-Hawk series. Though the Cyclones are still losing the overall series 11-8, Iowa State could still theoretically win with a softball victory and by earning two additional points for academics.
- Senior beam specialist Ashley Alden returned Friday after being out almost two months with an ankle injury. Her return performance was stronger than even she expected.
- Freshman vault dynamo Megan Barnes didn't participate in Friday's meet in order to rest nagging minor injuires. She is, however, expected to compete at Saturday's Big 12 Championship.
- Friday's attendance was 2,403

Iowa State's Senior Night scores
Vault - 49.150
Uneven Bars - 49.225
Balance Beam - 49.000
Floor Exercise - 49.325 - Season high
Total - 196.700 - Season high

Watching Friday's meet, it's clear the Cyclones have a new attitude and are re-motivated for the last half of the season. I'd hate to have to face them at Big 12 Championships or Regionals.

Thanks for reading. Also, Steve Kemp still has spots left for the Big 12 Championship bus trip this weekend, so make sure to contact him as soon as possible if interested.

Cody Saveraid

Senior Night - Final Rotation (Floor Exercise)

2007-03-23T20:43:00.000-05:00

Iowa State is definitely having fun right now.

Floor (Fourth Rotation) - 49.325 - An awesome finish to a season high team score

1. Melanie Tham - 9.125 - Her routine was looking great, but she fell to her butt while landing her final pass.
2. Nikki Dilbert - 9.825 - Very good routine. Maybe I'm losing it, but I think she used a few new elements tonight. Regardless if they are old or new, they were effective.
3. Anna Robey - 9.725 - Her first pass was excellent. I actually thought she was going to lose it on her final pass, but she nailed it beautifully. Great performance.
4. Jasmine Thompson - 9.900 - The floor judge really enjoyed this routine as evident by her constant smile. It certainly was one of her best this year and the crowd gave her a huge ovation.
5. Katie Sweetin - 9.925 - Awesome routine. Without a doubt, this is the best floor I've seen her perform this season.
6. Janet Anson - 9.950 - ISU's best gymnast ever finishes her home meet career with one of her best floor routine's ever. If you're a 15-year-old gymnast not named Shawn Johnson, this is the routine you should be looking up to. She received a loud standing ovation.

Denver finished with a 49.125 on bars and Iowa finished with a 48.625 on vault.

Final score: Iowa State - 196.750 - season high
Denver - 195.700
Iowa - 194.450

The night finished with a wonderful video tribute to the seniors, featuring photos of all four of them at different stages of their lives. Lots of photos of them when they were young gymnasts.

Thanks for joining me. I'll be blogging live from next weekend's Big 12 Championship, so join me then.

Thanks for reading,
Cody

Senior Night - Third Rotation (Beam)

2007-03-23T20:17:00.000-05:00

Beam (Third rotation) - 49.000 -This is the beam ISU has been wanting for over a month
1. Nikki Dilbert - 9.775 - Excellent routine. She's struggled on beam recently, so her smile upon landing says it all.
2. Jasmine Thompson - 9.750. Another great routine, including a nice fall save.
3. Jade Kvach - 9.850 - Tremendous routine, perhaps her best of the year.
4. Katie Sweetin - 9.200 - This was shaping up to be one of her best of the year, but she took a fall after completing a series of flips in the middle of her return. The dismount looked great, but I think this score will be thrown out.
5. Ashley Alden - 9.750 - After three backflips, she definitely looks recovered. A really impressive return to competition.
6. Janet Anson - 9.875 - Excellent routine. A fantastic end to the first solid team beam in a about a month.

Exhibition - Melanie Tham - Great routine. Both exhibitions have looked great tonight.

Denver earned a 48.850 on vault and Iowa took a 49.075 on floor. Denver is struggling a bit - I honestly wonder if they are affected by the change in altitude? I know it's a Colorado sports team cliche, but you have to wonder, especially considering how well they've scored the past few meets.

One of the Denver coaches was strongly arguing his case to the meet referee following vault. He isn't happy with one of the scores.

After three rotations, it's:
Iowa State - 147.425
Denver - 146.475
Iowa - 145.875

The crowd is loudly chanting "ISU" now.

It's safe to say Iowa State already has this one wrapped up. They have been dominant tonight and they've certainly needed a performance like this. They haven't had all 49's all season, so hopefully I'm not jinxing them by mentioning it now.

Senior Night - Second Rotation (Bars)

2007-03-23T19:48:00.000-05:00

Bars (Second Rotation) - 49.275 - Wow, they tore it up tonight
1. Ceilia Maccani - 9.800 - Great routine. Sadly I missed her usually fantastic Tkatchev (the move where she jumps really high off the bar) because a couple Denver gymnasts walked in front of me. It happens.
2. Melanie Tham - 9.675 - Very good routine. She hopped a bit upon landing, but she did a very nice job considering she's not normally in the bars lineup.
3. Jasmine Thompson- Awesome, awesome, awesome. Probably the best landing I've seen on bars this year.
4. Nikki Dilbert - 9.850 - Just tremendous. Iowa State is closing in on another 49.
5. Katie Lasher - 9.850 - Another fantastic routine. She could have extended a handstand or two but otherwise, this was great. She has been working a more difficult dismount in practice, but she didn't use it here tonight. Better safe than sorry at this point in the season.
6. Janet Anson - 9.900 - This was great. Not her best of the year, but still a great routine.

Exhibition - Jen Hornbaker - In the interest of full disclosure, during the fall, Jen actually worked as a copy editor at the Daily, so I've been friends with her since before the season began. A walk-on, she's been working really, really hard in practice, even staying late on occasion. So, to watch her nail this routine, her first routine at a college meet, as well as she did has to rank up with my favorite gymnastics moments of the year. She's very critical of herself, so I believe this is the first time I've seen her smile after finishing a routine all season. I didn't see the actual a score for her routine, but I'm giving her a 10 based on how much she put into reaching this moment. By the way - she's very good at editing articles and has saved stupid errors on our part on more than one occasion.

Denver took a 48.800 on floor and Iowa earned a 48.450 on beam. It looks like they're showing Iowa on the video feed much more than Denver - is this correct? I understand the Cy-Hawk series is important, but from a gymnastics fan standpoint, the people who are actually watching the feed on Cyclones.com are probably more interested in the Denver-Iowa State match up. Am I correct to think this?

After two rotations, here's how it looks:
Iowa State - 98.425
Denver - 97.575
Iowa - 96.750

Senior Night - First Rotation (Vault)

2007-03-23T19:24:00.000-05:00

Vault (First Rotation) - 49.150 - Excellent routines all around. An explosive start and the crowd is definitely up for the meet now.
1. Jasmine Thompson - 9.950- Fantastic start. Beautiful rotation and not a hint of a step on the landing. She totally stuck it. Her fan sitting behind me is going nuts. I attribute part of her success to the short pigtails hairstyle she's using tonight.
2. Katie Sweetin - 9.800- Another tremendous vault with the second totally stuck landing of the night
3. Jenn Salfen - 9.775 - Very good vault with just a short step on the landing. This is her first time competing for Iowa State (she's done exhibition before) and she made a good debut. She's a super nice gal and has worked very hard in practice all season. Her goal for the year was to compete on vault so I'm really happy that she had a chance to compete before the season ended.
4. Nikki Dilbert- 9.800 - Great vault, with good landing.
5. Katie Lasher - 9.725 - Excellent vault. She looked like she was about to fall and amazingly stayed on her feet without taking a step. The recovery was the most impressive part of this routine.
6. Janet Anson- 9.925 - Wow....this was spectacular. Near perfect.

Anna Robey really is just an alternate and didn't compete an exhibition routine.

Denver took a 48.775 on beam and Iowa earned a 48.300 on bars to start the meet.

Senior Night - Entrances and other pre-meet tidbits

2007-03-23T19:05:00.000-05:00

Before entrances even started, they started playing the Eagles "Hotel California." See, now that's a good song. Plus, when you hear it in an arena, you start to believe there's a chance Vitali Klitschko is coming out for a rematch with Lennox Lewis for the heavyweight title. Yes, I realize there's a chance no one reading this will understand that reference, but I enjoyed it.

Hooray, the fog machine finally worked perfectly! Last time's a charm, I guess.

Tonight is Greek Night, meaning all fraternity and sorority memebers get in free. Problem is, many fraternities are holding spring initiations tonight, so there's actually fewer Greeks here onight than usual. That's unfortunate, but there's still a good-sized crowd here.

The four seniors - Ashley Alden, Janet Anson, Jade Kvach, and Katie Lasher received a special, well-deserved extended entrance.

Mary Ronayne, Director of Gymnastic Operations, just sang a stunning rendition of the National Anthem. Seriously, it was really impressive. She could go on the road and make some bucks covering Celine Dion songs.

A male fan behind me has a serious crush on Jasmine Thompson. The meet hasn't even started yet and I've heard "Yeah, Jasmine!" about five times.

See you after the first rotation for real this time,
Cody

Senior Night vs. Denver and Iowa- Warmups

2007-03-23T18:51:00.000-05:00

My ears are currently being attacked by a terrible hip hop song featuring a siren blaring in the background while a singer repeatedly sings "Chicken Noodle Soup..Chicken Noodle Soup." I'm only 22 years old, but I must already be too old for current popular music. What do I know though...I legitimately enjoy 80's hard rock and hair metal. The scary thing is that about five ISU gymnasts knew the dance to the song...

Anyway, warmups are going really well for all three teams and entrances are about to begin. I think they've doubled up on the number of plants and balloons scattered around the arena. Why plants? I've never understood it myself. If someone knows, please let me know.

Here's tonight's ISU lineups. Because Megan Barnes is sitting this one out to rest an accumulation of minor injuries, we have some happily unique lineups tonight. Senior Ashley Alden also makes her return from injury tonight on beam. Being fifth in the rotation after two months of not competing shows that the ISU coaches have a lot of confidence in her.

Also, I'll be sure to comment on tonight's alternates - a reader pointed out that I've failed to comment on them much in the past and I definitely don't want to leave anyone out.

Vault (First Rotation) - -
1. Jasmine Thompson - -
2. Katie Sweetin - -
3. Jenn Salfen - -
4. Nikki Dilbert- -
5. Katie Lasher - -
6. Janet Anson - -
Alternate - Anna Robey -

Bars (Second Rotation) -
1. Ceilia Maccani -
2. Melanie Tham - -
3. Jasmine Thompson
4. Nikki Dilbert -
5. Katie Lasher -
6. Janet Anson -
Alternate - Jen Hornbaker -

Beam (Third rotation) -
1. Nikki Dilbert -
2. Jasmine Thompson -
3. Jade Kvach -
4. Katie Sweetin -
5. Ashley Alden -
6. Janet Anson -
Alternate - Melanie Tham

Floor (Fourth Rotation) -

1. Melanie Tham -
2. Nikki Dilbert -
3. Anna Robey -
4. Jasmine Thompson -
5. Katie Sweetin
6. Janet Anson -

By the way, be sure to sign up for the bus trip if you can. Details to the right.

See you after the first rotation. I might be really wordy tonight, but I have a number of antecdotes to give out tonight. Plus, it's my last home meet too and it definitely feels like a special night.

Thanks for joining me,
Cody

Friday morning March 23 update - includes link to latest article

2007-03-23T06:50:00.000-05:00

Hi gang,

Here's the gymnastics article I wrote for today's Daily: Senior Farewell

As usual, I will be blogging live during the meet tonight, so be sure to join me for what should be a unique Senior Night. A number of promotions and fan contests have been organized for tonight's meet, more than I can ever remember happening at one ISU home meet, so it should be a fun night.

Thanks for reading this brief update,
Cody Saveraid

First spring football practices open to fans and gymnastics welcomes the Greek community

2007-03-21T13:17:00.000-05:00

Hi folks,

Here's all the info from Cyclones.com:

"Iowa State's first two 2007 spring football practices are open to Iowa State fans and media. The practices are Wednesday and Thursday and will start at 7 p.m. in the Steve and Debbie Bergstrom Indoor Training Facility."

In previous years, I can't remember the first days of Spring practice being open to the public. It should be an interesting experience for both fans and players.

Also, this Friday's final home gymnastics meet has been designated as Greek Night. Here's all the details courtesy of Iowa State's wonderful gymnastics media contact:

"The Iowa State gymnastics meet on Friday, March 23 has been designated as Greek Night. Admission is free for members wearing letters and all Greeks in attendance can sign up for prizes and participate in contests. Fraternity men can sign up to win two roundtrip tickets to Las Vegas courtesy of Allegiant Air and sorority women can register to win a diamond necklace courtesy of Ames Silversmithing. Contests include a Student Travel Association (STA) trivia game where four people will win $50 travel vouchers curtsey of STA. Many other smaller prizes will also be given away."

Along with that, it's Senior Night and I'm betting there's some nice things planned for the four senior gymnasts.

Thanks for reading,
Cody Saveraid

ISU men's basketball player Mike Taylor arrested

2007-03-20T16:38:00.000-05:00

Here's the latest update about Taylor's Monday night arrest, including details about a previously unreported arrest this past summer.

ISU men's basketball star arrested, suspended indefinitely from team

Tuesday March 20 update

2007-03-20T16:00:00.000-05:00

Hi folks,

Hope you've all had a chance to contact Steve Kemp about the bus trip to the Big 12 Gymnastics Championship in two weekends. If not, you can reach him at sjkemp62@msn.com. For further details, read Monday's post.

After taking a few days off over Spring Break, the gymnasts looked really refreshed in practice yesterday and were executing routines very well. It looks like Megan Barnes won't be competing this weekend. She doesn't have any serious injuries, but she's collected a few minor ones along the way and the coaches just want to give her a break. In good news, senior beam specialist Ashley Alden is expected to be in action this weekend after missing much of the season with an ankle injury. The team has struggled on beam recently, so Alden's return could be the key to an improved team score. Before her injury, she was ranked 8th in the nation on beam.

In some unfortunate news unrelated to gymnastics, it's been reported that ISU basketball player Mike Taylor was arrested on Monday night. We'll have more details on the Daily's Web site later tonight and in tomorrow's Daily.

I'll update again when I can. Wednesday looks like it will be very busy day for me.

Thanks for reading,
Cody

Monday March 19 Update - Includes Big 12 Bus Trip details

2007-03-19T13:36:00.000-05:00

Long time, no type to everyone,

I won't have a new article in the Daily about the gymnastics team until Friday, but I was able to write a very brief recap of the Nebraska meet in today's paper. The blurb was too small to make it on the site, but here's what it said:

"Fifteenth-ranked Iowa State gymnastics’ recent struggles on balance beam continued in a 196.500-195.450 loss to No. 5 Nebraska on March 11. The Cyclones posted a 48.500 on beam, its lowest event score of the meet. In the past four meets, Iowa State has averaged a 48.469 on beam, compared to a 48.910 average the first five meets of the season."

Compiling those beam averages brought even more interesting results than I expected. By the way, the rankings hadn't been released at press time, so Iowa State's current ranking is No. 17, with Nebraska at No. 7. Interesting of note is that Denver is now ranked 16th. Denver and Iowa travel to Ames this Friday for Iowa State's last home meet of the year, which is also Senior Night.

In other news, the Big 12 Championships are March 31 in Columbia, Mo. One of my loyal readers, Steve Kemp, is organizing a bus trip down to Missouri for fans. Here's some more details direct from Steve:

"The cost is just $45 per person. Contact us right away to reserve your spot. Payments must be made by March 24th (there will be a table in the Hilton south foyer before and after the meet).

The bus will leave from the ISU campus on Saturday morning, make a stop for a meal, and arrive at the stadium by 6pm for the 7pm meet. Tickets are not included, but we also have $8 reserved seat tickets on sale for a special ISU section. We will return shortly after the meet and arrive back in Ames early Sunday morning.

Please let me know right away if you are interested so that I can reserve your spot. It is first come/first served. Contact Steve Kemp by email Sjkemp62@msn.com or phone 515/450-7713. Go Cyclones!"

I might actually be riding down on the bus myself as long as there is enough interest to make the trip by bus.

Finally, the sixth-seeded ISU women's basketball team plays in the second round of the NCAA tournament today against third-seeded Georgia. The game will be shown live on ESPN2 at 6:00 p.m. tonight. Should be a great game.

Thanks for reading,
Cody

Friday March 9 Update - includes link to latest article

2007-03-09T07:10:00.000-06:00

Good morning gang. I'm just as surprised as anyone that I'm already up 7 a.m., especially considering I don't have class until 10 today.

Here's a link to the newest gymnastics article in today's Daily:
Cyclones hope to get back on track against Nebraska

Just a reminder: Unfortunately, I won't be making the trip to Nebraska on Sunday for the ISU-Nebraska meet, so I won't be able to provide live blog coverage. Live stats should be available on Cyclones.com

How about the ISU women's basketball team? Beating Nebraska in an overtime thriller two days ago and then beating No. 1 seed Texas A&M last night. They face a Courtney Paris-led Oklahoma team in the Big 12 finals, and with ISU's momentum, I think they have as good a shot as any team of beating the Sooners. The game starts Saturday at 6 p.m. and you can follow all the action live at Pat Brown's blog, www.isdeic.blogspot.com . Pat has a number of interesting insights from the week in Oklahoma City, so check it out.

It's too bad the men's team couldn't win at least one game. I'm already looking forward to next year though. On paper, the recruiting class we have coming in could be one of the best we've ever had.

This photo of Wesley Johnson taken by Daily photographer Ross LaDue after the game certainly paints the picture.

Check back throughout Spring Break (next week) in case I decide to post. I'm sure I will. Obviously, with the school on Spring Break, the Daily won't be publishing next week so I won't have another article for about a week-and-a-half.

Thanks for reading,
Cody Saveraid

Wednesday March 7 update - includes great photos and fixed gymnastics spread links

2007-03-07T11:49:00.000-06:00

Hi folks,

I just realized I forgot to post a link here to Monday's recap article. I assume all of you were smart enough to find it on the Daily's site yourself, but here's a link simply because I told you all I would post it:

Early struggles in meet set pace for heartbreaking loss to Minnesota

Check out this amazing photo of Katie Lasher that ran with the story. It's poster material:

I'm sure Katie is happy that we finally made up for this photo of her falling on bars early last season:

Katie really hates this photo, so I'm sure if she finds out I posted it here, I'll hear about it next time I see her in practice.

On the topic of great gymnastics photos taken by Daily photographers, here's a fantastic shot of Janet Anson taken earlier this season. No joke — this is one of the best gymnastics action shots I've ever seen:

I'll post more great shots as the year continues. Do you have any links to other great gymnastics photos taken around the country? Post a link to them in the comments if you'd like. I'd love to share examples of good photography from around the nation with the photographers that work here.

Some other quick notes:

— I won't be able to attend this Sunday's Iowa State-Nebraska meet, so the only live coverage available will be live stats on Cyclones.com. I'm sorry I won't be there to provide quirky details and "expert" analysis.

— It's been been brought to my attention that the link to Page 2 of the ISU gymnastics spread I posted last week doesn't work on the Web site. Here's fixed links to both pages of the spread. Both pages are PDF files:

ISU Gymnastics spread page 1
ISU Gymnastics spread page 2

The reason the Page 2 link doesn't work on the Daily's site is because a ".com" was removed from the address. It should be fixed shortly, but if you need it, just refer to this blog post. It works best to print it off on 11x17 paper; It's scrunched on regular 8.5x11 paper.

— It's also been brought to my attention that some of the readers of this blog have attempted to e-mail me. I haven't received any e-mails on my end, but for future reference, you can e-mail me at isdsports@gmail.com. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

— Finally, for those of you that also follow ISU basketball, the Daily's own Pat Brown is blogging live from the women's and men's Big 12 basketball tournaments in Oklahoma City. Here's a link to his blog:
Pat Brown's live basketball coverage

I'll post a permanent link to the list on right for easier access.

Thanks for reading this far down. Today's entry was a long one, so I give you a virtual gold star for making it this far.

Cody Saveraid

ISU-Iowa-Minnesota Final Rotation

2007-03-04T15:39:00.000-06:00

Vault (Fourth Rotation) - 49.925 - Good vaults, but not good enough to overtake Minnesota's lead
1. Jasmine Thompson - 9.875 - Great start on vault for the Cyclones
2. Katie Sweetin - 9.775 - Excellent vault.
3. Nikki Dilbert- - Great rotation, sloppy landing
4. Katie Lasher - 9.800 - Great rotation, funny hop on landing.
5. Megan Barnes - 9.900 - Spectacular vault. This was awesome.
6. Janet Anson - 9.875 - Great rotation. She approached to hard, however, and took a momentum step upon landing.

Iowa earned a 48.950 on floor and Minnesota earned a 48.725 on bars to finish the meet. Minnesota takes the upset victory by just .25.

Final score: Iowa State - 195.325
Iowa - 194.275
Minnesota - 195.350

Thanks for following my coverage. Sorry I was as detailed as usually... I had to be more mobile than usual today. Check back tomorrow for a link to my article in Monday's Daily.

ISU-Iowa-Minnesota Third Rotation

2007-03-04T15:24:00.000-06:00

I wish Minnesota and Iowa wouldn't have worn almost-matching black uniforms. Hard to keep track of which team is on which event without checking the rotation lineup.

Floor (Third Rotation) - 49.075 - Iowa State looked much, much better and made up some ground.
1. Megan Barnes - 9.800 - Excellent routine.
2. Nikki Dilbert - 9.650 - Very good routine.
3. Melanie Tham - 9.800 - Another very good routine. Iowa State should really gain some ground on floor.
4. Jasmine Thompson - 9.425 - Took a awkward fall on her ankle on her first pass. She finished the routine without any sign of injury though.
5. Katie Sweetin 9.900 - Awesome routine. Her floor improves by leaps and bounds each meet. The pun was certainly intended.
6. Janet Anson - 9.925 - Another awesome routine. Great finish to floor for the Cyclones.

Iowa earned a 48.775 on beam. Minnesota earned a 48.900 on vault.

After three rotations:
Iowa State - 146.100
Iowa - 145.325
Minnesota - 146.675

Iowa State finishes on vault.

ISU-Iowa-Minnesota Second Rotation

2007-03-04T14:47:00.000-06:00

A score was recorded incorrectly after the first rotation. Minnesotat actually held the lead after the first rotation by earning a 48.725 on beam.

Beam (Second rotation) - 48.350 - Iowa State had to count a fall.
1. Megan Barnes - 9.775 - Great routine to start beam.
2. Melanie Tham - 9.600 - Good routine. She did a nice job of saving a fall near the beginning.
3. Nikki Dilbert - 9.125 - Took an unfortunate fall.
4. Katie Sweetin - 9.825 - Fantastic, perhaps her best all year.
5. Jade Kvach - 9.275 - Iowa State's second fall off beam, meaning they have to count a fall.
6. Janet Anson - 9.875 - Awesome routine. The Cyclones definitely needed it.

Iowa earned a 48.800 on bars. Minnesota earned a 49.050 on floor.

After two rotations, Minnesota surprisingly leads by a good margin.
Iowa State - 97.025
Iowa - 96.550
Minnesota - 97.725

See you after Iowa State's floor

Iowa State-Iowa-Minnesota First Rotation

2007-03-04T14:21:00.000-06:00

To give you an idea of how glamorous gymnastics journalism is, I'm currently sitting in the bleachers, surrounded by a group of grils scouts and parents. Iowa's press row is a six feet long table that really only has enough space for each school's sports information directors. Plus, it's located in a corner of the arena where you can't even see bars or vault, so I wouldn't be able to give any coverage besides scores. The group around me is full of nice people though, so it's not too bad.

Bars (First Rotation) - 48.675
1. Megan Barnes - 9.650 - Awesome start. Totally stuck the landing. Could have extended better on her handstands, but she still should have had a higher score.
2. Jasmine Thompson - 9.300 - This was shaping up to be her best bars routine of the year, but she took a fall onto her back after landing her dismount. Really unfortunate.
3. Nikki Dilbert - 9.800 - Great routine, but to be honest, I missed some this because of how much is going on. What I saw was really good.
4. Ceilia Maccani - 9.750 - Good routine, but she's had better this year.
5. Katie Lasher - 9.700 - Great performance. She's been on a roll lately.
6. Janet Anson - 9.775 - Fantastic routine, but very slight step on landing. Shouldn't hurt her score too badly.

Melanie Tham took a hard fall during her exhibition routine. She appears to be OK, however, and finished her routine strong.

Iowa earned a 47.750 on vault due to a number of girls taking hard falls. Minnesota earned a 48.050 on beam.

Up next for the Cyclones is beam.

Mar. 4 - Iowa State vs. Iowa and Minnesota -Warmups

2007-03-04T13:12:00.000-06:00

Hi folks,

With the weather troubles finally cleared up, Minnesota finally made it down to Iowa - just a different location than originally planned. After Friday's Minnesota-Iowa State meet in Ames was cancelled, Minnesota was added to the bill in Iowa City today, making this a triangular meet.

By the way, to give you an idea of how bad the wetaher was in Iowa on Thursday and Friday, I drove past a whopping 70 cars in the ditch during the 2 1/2 hour drive from Ames to Iowa City. I counted every single car. 53 of them were in the half-hour drive from Ames to the interstate mixmaster north of Des Moines.

Iowa uses a funky setup for its meets, but it looks functional. For gymnastics meets, Iowa sections of part of its Field House, which is primary rec center for students on campus and also home of Iowa's pool. For those of you in Ames, it would be like holding a meet on the center turf of the Lied Rec Center.

As far as warmups go, all three teams have struggled on beam, so it will be interesting to see how the scores shake out.

I'll be back after the first rotation,
Cody

ISU-Minnesota gymnastics meet cancelled

2007-03-01T16:04:00.000-06:00

Due to the terrible weather conditions in both Ames and Minnesota, Friday's ISU-Minnesota gymnastics meet has been cancelled. I spoke to coach Jay Ronayne on the phone today and he is unsure at this time whether the meet will be rescheduled.

Iowa State cancelled classes this afternoon. In my four years at ISU, I believe this is the first time class has been cancelled for any reason. Because of the rain, the ground is very wet and sidewalks are covered in puddles. It's also been snowing pretty hard for the past few hours and isn't expected to stop. Thankfully, it's not cold enough yet to freeze, but once darkness comes it should turn really bad outside. I've heard that Interstate 35 from Ames to Minneapolis is closed and Interstate 80 west of Des Moines has been shut down as well.

If weather permits, I'm planing on traveling to Iowa City on Sunday for the ISU-Iowa gymnastics meet at 2 p.m. If I go, I'll be providing live coverage in this blog.

Hope you enjoy the two-page spread in today's Daily (see my previously entry below):

Stay safe in the ice and snow,
Cody Saveraid

Thursday March 1 Update - includes link to ISU gymnastics spread

2007-03-01T01:54:00.000-06:00

Hi folks,

Thursday's Daily features perhaps the coolest piece of gymnastics journalism I've ever worked on - a two-page spread educating readers on ISU gymnastics and the sport of gymnastics. Here's a link to the Daily's site, where you can find a PDF version of each page:

ISU Gymnastics - a comprehensive guide

If you have a chance, pick up a copy of today's Daily because seeing the spread on a computer doesn't do it complete justice. For those of you wanting to print the pages off, it works best to print it onto 11 x 17 paper. The text is pretty scrunched when you print it off on regular-sized printer paper.

Hope you enjoy the spread. Join me here again Friday night for live coverage of the Iowa State-Minnesota meet.

Thanks for reading,
Cody Saveraid

Tuesday, Feb. 27 Gymnastics update

2007-02-27T01:45:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-26T15:31:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-26T12:01:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-23T11:04:00.000-06:00

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!

2007-02-21T19:00:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-19T12:01:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-16T20:53:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-16T20:24:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-16T19:56:00.001-06:00

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

2007-02-16T19:37:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-16T18:27:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-16T09:12:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-15T18:36:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-13T12:32:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-12T18:10:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-10T13:35:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-07T20:27:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-02T20:35:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-02T20:09:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-02T19:45:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-02T18:59:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-02T18:42:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-01T19:11:00.000-06:00

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

Link to Cyclone Hockey fight video

2007-01-25T13:05:00.000-06:00

Here's a direct link to the hockey fight mentioned in today's Daily. The Cyclones may have lost the game to Illinois, but as you'll see here, they certainly came out on top in this fight.

Cyclone Hockey Video

Hope you're all having a fantastic day,
Cody

Monday Gymnastics Update

2007-01-22T16:02:00.000-06:00

Here's the Top 10 of the latest official women's gymnastics rankings courtesy of GymInfo.

Rankings as of Jan. 22 by total season average:

1 Florida 196.742
2 Georgia 196.675
3 Utah 196.525
4 Stanford 196.233
5 Alabama 195.675
6 UCLA 195.660
7 Nebraska 195.462
8 Oklahoma 195.313
9 Iowa State 195.150
10 Auburn Univ. 195.000

Here's how Iowa State ranks nationally on all four events (with average score):
Vault - 11th - 48.967
Uneven Bars - 18th - 48.525
Balance Beam - 6th - 48.817
Floor Exercise - 8th - 48.842

Here's Iowa State's top individual perfomer nationally in each event (with average score):
All-Around - Janet Anson - 14th - 39.150
Floor Exercise - Janet Anson - 3rd - 9.900
Balance Beam - Ashley Alden - 11th - 9.842
Vault - Megan Barnes - 10th - 9.867

No Iowa State gymnasts rank in the Top 25 on uneven bars.

Interesting to note that the of the four Big 12 team's, three are in the top 10, while Missouri ranked 22nd with a much lower average of 193.492. Missouri is Iowa State's next opponent in Hilton Coliseum on Feb. 2.

As you saw in yesterday's Daily, sophomore balance beam specialist Ashley Kent's knee injury is much more serious than I originally thought during Friday's meet. Pending x-ray's this week, she might be done for the season. Along with losing her supreme talent on beam, it's shame that Iowa State fans will be unable to see, in my opinion, one of most dynamic uneven bars routines the Cyclones have to offer.

Kent isn't the only Big 12 gymnast feeling injury woes. It's been rumored that Oklahoma star gymnast Brittany Koncak-Schumann suffered an apparent leg injury competing last weekend against Missouri and Central Michigan. Eyewitness accounts report that she was carried off the floor and returned midway through the awards ceremony on crutches with a large ice pack taped to her knee. Keep your eye on this piece of news leading in to the ISU-Oklahoma meet in Ames on Feb. 16.

One of the other big news pieces coming out of Friday's meet was the record crowd at Hilton of 3,429 in ISU head coach Jay Ronayne's home debut as coach of the Cyclones. Contrast that with former-ISU, now-Oklahoma head coach K.J. Kindler's home debut - in front of 729 fans.

Finally, check out this a really impressive video clip of M.I.T. gymnast Cindy Chung's Side Somi mount onto the balance beam: Cindy Chung clip

Thanks for reading. I'll try to post another interesting video tomorrow,
Cody Saveraid

Final Rotation - Floor Exercise

2007-01-19T21:40:00.001-06:00

Floor (Fourth Rotation) - A number of strong, inspired routines by Iowa State, but not enough to comeback and win.
1. Ashley Alden - 9.725 - Great routine. Excellent start for Iowa State on floor.
2. Megan Barnes - 8.750 - The crowd loves her music, clapping along. She was too amped up for her first pass, however, and fell on her butt upon landing.
3. Anna Robey - 9.775 - This freshman performed masterfully under pressure. Excellent performance. The student section gave her a standing ovation.
4. Jasmine Thompson - 9.825 - Fantastic performance. Standing ovations all around Hilton. She's not letting Nebraska win without a fight.
5. Katie Sweetin - 9.775 - Man alive, she NAILED her first pass. Tremendous. Only a freshman, expect her to be an All-American on floor before she graduates. Hilton went crazy after this performance.
6. Janet Anson - 9.900 - Excellent routine. This was a terrific example of why she's a seven-time All-American.

Nebraska finished very strong on beam, posting a , just enough to ward off an Iowa State comeback on floor.

Final score: Nebraska - 195.725
Iowa State - 195.325

It's very possible both teams will move up in next week's national rankings.

Ashley Kent's injury doesn't appear to be serious and she's standing just fine now. Expect her to compete again at ISU's next meet on Feb. 2.

Tonight's attendance of 3,429 is a new record for ISU gymnastics.

Third Rotation - Balance Beam

2007-01-19T20:36:00.001-06:00

Beam (Third rotation) - 48.825
1. Janet Anson - 9.800 - Very strong routine overall, despite a misstep or two. Fantastic spinning, twisting dismount.
2. Megan Barnes -9.750 - Barnes caught herself from potentially falling early and completed a solid routine. Her dismount involves her walking halfway across the beam and suddenly corkscrewing into the air from the middle of the beam. Great dismount that completely takes you by surprise
3. Jasmine Thompson -9.800 - Excellent routine. She had complete control of the crowd, which is difficult to do on beam.
4. Jade Kvach - 9.625 - Great routine. Kvach is as dependable as they get. She's similar to John Paxson when he played for the Chicago Bulls. In solid play and dependability, I mean. She certainly looks better than John Paxson.
5. Ashley Alden - 9.825 - Coming in to this meet, she was tied for 9th nationally on beam, and she should be ranked higher after this performance. Excellent routine, maybe ISU's best of the season thus far.
6. Katie Sweetin - 9.650 - Listed as an alternate, she's replacing Ashley Kent after Kent's leg injury on bars. Sweetin is a more than suitable replacement and she performed strong here.

Nebraska looked strong as always on the floor exercise, earning a 48.975, widening its lead. Emily Parsons is still ridiculously good and with certainly battle Janet Anson all season for Big 12 Gymnast of the Year honors.

After three rotations, Nebraska leads 146.700 - 146.275. Iowa State needs to pull out something special on floor exercise and hope for Nebraska to count falls on beam to win.

Second Rotation - Uneven Bars

2007-01-19T20:03:00.000-06:00

Bars (Second Rotation)- 48.500 - Really tremendous routines completely undermined by the judges scoring. Very tough bars judges tonight.

1. Megan Barnes - 9.625 - Wonderful routine, capped off with a totally stuck landing. Judges gave it a lower score than it warranted.
2. Ashley Kent - 9.200 - Much like last week, she used a wonderfully unique routine, but again struggled on landing the dismount. She fought to keep her balance upon landing, but eventually fell backwards. It appears she tweaked her foor or ankle, and she was helped off the mat by coach Jay Ronayne.
3. Nikki Dilbert - 9.800 - ISU's best bars routine of the early season. Fantastic.
4. Katie Lasher - 9.750 - .Well, Lasher just toppoed Dilbert's routine. Sticking dismounts doesn't get any better than this.
5. Ceilia Maccani - 9.775 - Wow...this may have even beat Lasher's. ISU is doing phenomenal on bars tonight.
6. Janet Anson - 9.550 - Magnificent. She's introduced new elements into her bars routine this season and she nailed everything here....and the judges totally screwed her over. Ridiculously low score. Completely befuddling. Should have been at least a 9.850.

Nebraska tore it up on vault, earning a 49.050.

After two rotations, Nebraska has a slim lead, 97.725 - 97.450. Remember, only the top five of each rotation's six scores count to the team total for each event.

Next up for the Cyclones is the balance beam.

ISU's First Rotation - Vault

2007-01-19T19:42:00.000-06:00

Vault (First Rotation) - 48.950 - Very, very strong vault routines. Could be a difference maker at the end of the night.
1. Jasmine Thompson - 9.700 - Great start. Real solid vault.
2. Katie Sweetin - 9.425 - Really good flip, but she almost landed butt first. See looked like she caught herself, however, but it should hurt her score.
3. Nikki Dilbert- 9.750 - Very good vault. Dilbert wasn't listed on the on the initial vault lineup, but she certainly stepped in with a vengeance.
4. Katie Lasher - 9.775 - Great vault. Crowd popped very loud for her.
5. Megan Barnes - 9.850 - Fantastic vault, totally stuck the landing.
6. Janet Anson - 9.875 - Terrific vault, good enough to beat Barnes. Barnes perfect career vault title record ends at two. Cael Sanderson's Utah-native-with-a-perfect-record streak stays intact.

Nebraska scored a 48.675 on uneven bars to begin the meet.

Iowa State has new home meet uniforms this year, with a sparkly cardinal as the base color and sparkly gold around the sholders and chest.

You'll notice that ISU's vault and bars lineups have changed quite a bit since last weekend at Minnesota.

Next up for ISU is uneven bars.

The greatest gymnastics entrance I've ever seen

2007-01-19T19:17:00.000-06:00

OK, that was absolutely awesome!

Nebraska's gymnasts were announced in a normal tone of voice. Suddenly, the lights went down and a video of a Nebraska bus played on the big screen. Out of nowhere, the bus gets thrown off the road by a cyclone, to a huge ovation. The video preceded to show, one-by-one, a photo of each Cyclone gymnast, accompanied by a map of North America with a star marking each competitor's hometown.

Following the video, fog started to rise from the stage, and when the smoke cleared, the Cyclone gymnasts were posed almost as if they were ready to take a media guide photo. The gymnasts were each introduced one by one and threw "Golden Rule" t-shirts to the crowd, capping of probably the finest entrance I've ever seen at a gymnastics meet.

Tonight definitely has the feel of a big time event, and I honestly think there's more fans here than in Boulder for men'sbsketball game on Wednesday.

By the way, the golden rule is "Beat Nebraska."

No. 6 Iowa State vs. No. 5 Nebraska - Warmups

2007-01-19T18:37:00.000-06:00

Hi folks,

The Cyclones look very strong in warmups tonight. Solid routines all around. The Cyclones, however, will surely need a few spectacular routines in order to defeat the Huskers. This should be a fantastic meet.

As per anything in the Jamie Pollard-era of Cyclone athletics,their appears to be a fancy new set up for the introduction of each team's lineups. When I walked through the media entrance into the arena, I ran almost head on into a curtained stage, which I assume the gymnasts will enter through upon introduction.

I'm sorry if that description hardly made sense. I agree that it was poor sentance writing.

Here's the preview I wrote this week in the Daily:

Under Pressure

Next update after the first rotation.

Thanks for reading,
Cody

Live ISU Women's Basketball Coverage

2007-01-18T17:56:00.000-06:00

Click on this link:

Iowa State Daily Women's Basketball Coverage

for sports editor Chris Conetzkey's live coverage of tonight's ISU women's basketball game against Texas. Tip off is at 7 p.m.

Also, thanks to the ongoing Mediacom/Sinclair dispute, you can watch the game on Medicacom cable channel 6.

Hope you check it out,
Cody

Iowa State's currently in first place!

2007-01-18T13:35:00.000-06:00

Remarkably, in the span of 24 hours, Iowa State has jumped from 10th to first place in ESPN.com's school spirit contest. Make sure you all keep voting, however, to ensure that Duke or Kansas don't overtake the lead.

I honestly don't know what happens if Iowa State wins, but I'm sure it will be something cooler than a debate between Sean Salisbury and John Clayton at Stephens Auditorium.

Fool-proof plan to ensure ISU wins ESPN's school spirit contest

2007-01-17T13:29:00.000-06:00

ESPN.com is currently holding a contest to determine who has the best student section in college basketball. Iowa State is one of the 22 contestants. Go to this Web site:

Rank: School Spirit!

to vote for Hilton Magic. Voting is nearing completion and Iowa State is currently ranked 10th. You know you don't want to lose to Kansas and Duke, so help make Iowa State proud.

When casting your ballot, you'll discover you have to pick a total of five teams, ranked in order. So, here's a plan of attack to ensure that we don't lose to the "Cameron Lazies" or that "Rock Chalk Jayhawk" nonsense.

Vote as follows:

1. IOWA STATE - Obviously, the most important vote

2. Valparaiso — Valpo is former home of basketball player Bryce Drew. Remember when he made "The Shot" - sinking a 3-pointer at the buzzer in the 1998 NCAA tournament? I know you do. Because of that shot, Drew played in the NBA for six years and is now back at Valpo as an assistant. As for the strategy of picking Valpo in this contest, the school only has approximately 4,000 students, meaning Iowa State should amass many more votes while keeping Duke and Kansas out of the equation.

3. Western Kentucky — Three words sum up why we can beat them: Sun Belt Conference

4. Butler — Butler is similar in size to Valpo and is also located in Indiana, but currently has a top 25 men's basketball team. In theory, they should be tougher for Iowa State to beat based on Butler's recent success and exposure, but I can't say I've ever heard anything about its student section. Plus, Iowa State trounces them in the numbers game.

5. North Carolina A&T— Home of the Blue & Gold Marching Machine, according to Wikipedia this school leads the country in number of minorities with degrees in science, mathematics, engineering and technology. They might be one of the biggest underdogs in this contest, so if we somehow don't win, it would be much cooler if they won rather than a big name university.

Follow the plan and Iowa State's bound to win. Or, at least Kansas and Duke won't.

Hope you're staying warm,
Cody

Link to wrestling reporter Luke Plansky's blog

2007-01-16T14:01:00.000-06:00

For those of you who are looking for senior reporter Luke Plansky's in-depth wrestling coverage blog, here's a link to the correct web address:

Luke Plansky's wrestling blog

or simply copy or type this into your browser:

http://www.isdsports2.blogspot.com

Hope you're all making it to class through the cold weather,
Cody

Break out the Oreos, baby!

2007-01-15T13:23:00.000-06:00

Here's a clip from a 1994 Texas high school football game. Most of the Daily staff agrees this is one of the, if not THE, most phenomenal comebacks we've ever seen in football.

Make sure you stay for the ending.

Amazing Comeback

Cody

Iowa State Fourth Rotation - Balance Beam

2007-01-13T19:59:00.001-06:00

Beam (Fourth Rotation) - 48.425
1. Janet Anson - 9.750 - Very nice routine with a fantastic dismount. Janet was thrilled upon landing, and for good reason.
2. Megan Barnes - 9.675 - Great routine. Iowa State looks very strong on beam tonight.
3. Katie Sweetin - 9.575 - Good routine. At 4' 10", her height really works to her advantage on beam.
4. Jade Kvach - 9.725 - Really good routine. She's a solid veteran and it showed here.
5. Ashley Alden - 9.825 - Great routine, best beam routine for ISU tonight.
6. Ashley Kent - 9.250 - Good routine, but she did have a very uncharacteristic fall. She recovered very well though.

Minnesota performed well on floor, earning the highest team total on one event tonight with a 48.925, but couldn't make up the gap.

Final score: ISU - 194.525, Minnesota - 194.400

Thanks for reading. You can see a full recap in the Daily early this week.
Cody

Iowa State Third Rotation - Floor Exercise

2007-01-13T19:18:00.000-06:00

Floor - (Third Rotation) - 48.775 (146.100 total)
1. Ashley Alden - 9.725 - Excellent routine.
2. Megan Barnes - 9.725 - Another excellent routine. Some of the young fans in the crowd help up their "10" signs.
3. Anna Robey - 9.675 - Great routine. She does a really nifty somersault variation.
4. Jasmine Thompson - 8.650 - Good routine. Her motions work really well with the music. She did, however, have a strange fall on her last pass that took her by total surprise. Certainly seemed like a fluke fall.
5. Katie Sweetin - 9.750 - Great routine.
6. Janet Anson - 9.900 - Fantastic routine. All landings stuck and she did a great job of conveying emotion on her face, which is very important. While performing, her arm didn't appear to be bothering her at all.

Minnesota earned a 48.825 on beam.

After three rotations, it's ISU - 146.100, Minn. - 145.475

Remeber, only the top five of the six scores in each rotation are counted on the final score.

Iowa State Second Rotation - Vault

2007-01-13T18:42:00.000-06:00

Vault (Second Rotation) - 48.900
1. Katie Lasher - 9.825 - Excellent start. Great vault.
2. Nikki Dilbert - 9.650 - Tough landing, but nice vault overall.
3. Jasmine Thompson - 9.775 - Really great vault. Really impressive.
4. Anna Robey - 9.200 - Nice vault, but fall on landing.
5. Megan Barnes - 9.850 - Excellent vault.
6. Janet Anson - 9.800 - Good vault, but she's clutching her arm a bit afterward.

Cyclones had some very good vaults tonight. Minnesota struggled on bars during its second rotation, earning a 48.050.

After two rotations, ISU leads 97.325-96.650.

Next up for ISU is the floor exercise.

Iowa State First Rotation - Uneven Bars

2007-01-13T18:15:00.000-06:00

Fun fact: All events here begin at the sound of the loon, which is the state bird of Minnesota. Loon's are an aquatic bird the size of a large duck or small goose.

There's a man sitting behind with a large gopher on his hat. I love it.

Cyclones bars results:
1. Katie Lasher - 9.650 - Great routine. Very strong start.
2. Ashley Kent - 9.600 - Nifty, unique routine, but rough landing on her twisting dismount and slight delays on a swing or two. Will be a truly dynamic routine once she works out all the kinks.
3. Megan Barnes - 9.625 - Good routine, but step on landing
4. Jasmine Thompson - 9.700 - Great routine, slight step back to gain balance on landing.
5. Ceilia Maccani - 9.675 - Tremendous until dismount, which had a step to gain balance. On her first or second rotation, she released and leapt split-legged from the bar about four feet in the air. Extremely impressive and drew and audible "WHOA" from the crowd.
6. Janet Anson - 9.775 - WOW! This was ridiculously great. You'll be hard-pressed to see a dismount stuck better.

Tough judging on bars tonight. Anson, Lasher and Thompson all had better routines than the score inidicates. It will be interesting to see how Minnesota's bars will be judged.

On vault, Minnesota had some steps on landings in the early stages, but ended very strong with great vaults by Kelly Ganchan, Alexis Russell and Carmelin Carabajal.

After one rotation, it's ISU - 48.425 Minnesota - 48.600

No. 13 Iowa State vs. No. 21 Minnesota from Minneapolis - 15 minutes until the action starts

2007-01-13T17:46:00.000-06:00

Hi folks,

The Cyclones looked great in warm-ups. It should be a good meet.

Minnesota doesn't begin its second semester until Tuesday, so there's a smaller student turnout than usual tonight. Last year, many of the male students cheer had "FEAR THE GOPHERS" painted on their chests. You don't see that too much in gymnastics.

Congrats to the ISU men's basketball team for its play in today's 68-64 OT loss to No. 5 Kansas this afternoon. Mike Taylor, Wesley Johnson and Jiri Hubalek played very well.

The P.A. announcer here does a tremendous job. He has a great voice for the job.

Next update will be after the first rotation.

Cody

Welcome to the Daily Sports Editors' Blog

2007-01-12T16:29:00.000-06:00

Hi Daily readers,

My name is Cody Saveraid and I'm the assistant sports editor (and gymnastics reporter) for the Iowa State Daily. On behalf of sports editor Chris Conetzkey and myself, I'd like to welcome all of you to the brand new sports editors' blog. Here you'll find:

- Live coverage of ISU gymnastics meets written by myself
- Other random newsbits and/or interesting links we encounter during the day

Join me tommorow night, Sat. Jan. 13, at 6 p.m. for live coverage from Minneapolis, Minnesota as the 13-ranked ISU gymnasts take on No. 21 Minnesota. It should be a competitive match up of last season's Big 12 and Big Ten champions. Here's a full preview of the meet (including audio interview with ISU head coach Jay Ronayne) I wrote in Friday's Daily:

Minnesota preview

Not interested in the gymnastics meet? Then check out Daily wrestling reporter Luke Plansky's blog all day for live coverage of the ISU wrestling team as they compete at the National Duals tournament in Cedar Falls. The Cyclones face Michigan in the first round.

Not interested in sports involving mats? Then follow Chris Conetzkey's live coverage of Saturday's ISU women's basketball game against Oklahoma State

Thanks,
Cody Saveraid