If you were to ask any of the gymnasts on the Men's Gymnastics Team what pumps them up the most for competitions, you may get many different answers. Some will say competing with 16 of your best friends. Some might even reason that finishing a hard routine in a competition setting gives them a feeling of sastification. However, on Saturday January 22nd, the Hawks recieved an extra boost of energy that was surely un-expected.
As the Men's and Women's teams competed, over 800 fans came out to root on the gymnasts while they both battled it out in thier seperate competitions! The stands? They were completely full. The track above the competiton floor? Tightly lined with eager fans awaiting the chance to see Iowa Gymnastics in action. It was a sight to see and your Hawks definitely fed off of that enthusiastic energy.
Just minutes before the competition, the Men's and Women's Teams rallied in the hallway; chanting the Iowa fight song and ringing the rafters with the resonance of their voices. With the announcer calling the teams to march out onto the floor, thier game faces were immediately put on and all rowdiness was put aside; it was now all business.
The first rotation began with the Floor. Solid performances were given by So. Matt McGrath and Fr. Lance Alberhasky who posted high numbers, had clean landings and aggresive tumbling. It was onto the Pommel Horse.
On the hardest event in Men's Gymnastics, Sr. Ben Ketelsen lead the way with a crowd-pleasing routine. With open-swinging and pointed-toes, the senior posted the highest score for the night on the apparatus and made the cut for Pommel Horse in the Super Six Video.
With the transition to the Still Rings, So. Anton Grashayev made school history. The strong rings-man broke the previous school record of 14.85 on the event with a 14.9! In addition, the entire Rings line-up that evening posted solid numbers and represented the strength of Iowa Gymnastics well.
For the fourth rotation, the Hawks moved to the Vault where Fr. Javier Balboa and Sr. Ben Ketelsen performed impressive routines with minimal deductions. Both were awarded with notable scores that would count towards the teams Vault percentage.
The Parallel Bars were nothing to difficult for Sr. Michael Jiang to handle as he competed a routine good enough to secure him a spot in this competiton's Super Six video. So. Jack McClay, in his only event for the night, came through for the Hawks as well to supply a hit set.
High Bar may have been the last event for the Hawks but the stellar performances were nowhere close to being done. Fr. Lance Alberhasky came through to seal his evening with a fluid and clean performance on the tall event. The kaboose for the High Bar line up, Fr. Javier Balboa, also wowed the crowd with his flying skills and well-deserved score.
The Hawkeyes did well enough to out do the Flames in an almost 10 point lead, giving them thier first season victory while at home. Go Hawks!
Some reminders!
1)Continue voting for February's Profiled Hawkeye!
2)Check out the new "Super Six" video featuring full routines!
3)New Skill of the Week posted.
4)Big Surprise coming soon to the Iowa Men's Gymnastics Blog! Stay tuned in over the next few weeks to see what it is!!
5)Want to see something different or just have a question? Feel free to comment below! Everyone can!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
A 'Windy' Finish for the Hawks
For years the Windy City Invitational has been known nationwide as a collegiate competition showcasing some of the best talent NCAA gymnastics has to offer. Teams from all over the nation travel to the great city of Chicago in hopes of bringing home the pride and title of being Windy City champion and bragging rights for a full 365 days.
The University of Iowa departed early from Iowa City, IA the morning of the January 15th ; seeking to make a national state of affirmation to the gymnastics world that Iowa Gymnastics is alive and well. As the competition began, each team stood next to the other, eagerly awaiting the chance to offset their opponents. Just before the start of the first rotation, the Hawks gathered in their huddled ritual to hear rousing words from their senior leaders. After the speech filled with ‘be confidents’ and ‘we got this’ came to a close, the Hawks exploded the room with the chant, “Gold and Black, on the attack, Lets go Iowa, AH!” The Hawks were ready to compete. Here are the event highlights and notable gymnasts.
During the First Rotation, the Hawks were on High Bar and the energy in the building was enough to lift the ceiling off of the building. They had some misses on the event but more success than failure for sure. In particular, Senior Ben Ketelsen and Freshman Javier Balboa put of large numbers for the Hawks. The Second Rotation was the Floor, which seemed to be in the favor of our Hawkeye gymnasts. Their tumbling was nearly through the roof on some of their skills! Senior John Haines, Sophomore Anton Gryshayev, and So. Matt McGrath flipped well enough to give the Hawks great representation by the Hawks.
The Third rotation, the Pommel Horse, was somewhat rocky for the Hawks, however Sophomore Broderick Shemanksy despite a fall on the very last skill of his routine, put out clean swinging for the Hawkeye pommel horse team. It was now onto the Still Rings.
The event made for showing off the strength and stamina of gymnastics was represented well by the Hawks. Notables were So. Anton Grysahvev, Sr. John Haines, and Fr. Lance Alberhasky. They all from first skill to dismount posted good numbers and clean routines.
With Vault being the fifth rotation and two-thirds of the meet already being over, the Hawks sitting in 5th place were looking to post large numbers for the sake of getting one spot higher up in the rankings. Even though the event did not quite go as expected, So. Anton Gryshayev and Fr. Javier Balboa had clean landings on the event. It was now time to move on to the last and final event – the Parallel Bars.
Since Parallel Bars was the last event, the Hawks were bent on showing the crowd, judges and fans alike that despite mishaps that happened that day, they were not finished just yet. So. Jack McClay, Fr. Lance Alberhasky along with So. Anton Gryshayev sealed the event for the team with clean, solid routines and a guaranteed 5th place finish.
The 2011 Windy City Invite, even if there were no first and second place finishes for the Hawks, was a building experience. They are a young team with a new coach and new way of training. Just like a planted seed in the ground the Hawkeyes need time to grow and branch up into the team they know they can be. It may not happen overnight, but it will happen. Trust and believe in your Hawks; I do.
Some reminders Hawks:
1) Next home meet Feb. 11th @ 7 P.M. in the Fieldhouse. Be there!
2) Continue voting for February's Profiled Hawkeye!
3) GymFace Album #8! Vote for the best one!
4) New Skill of the Week!
5) Anything suggestion of what you want to see on the site?! Shoot us comment in the comment box below! Everyone can submit a comment, not just members!
The University of Iowa departed early from Iowa City, IA the morning of the January 15th ; seeking to make a national state of affirmation to the gymnastics world that Iowa Gymnastics is alive and well. As the competition began, each team stood next to the other, eagerly awaiting the chance to offset their opponents. Just before the start of the first rotation, the Hawks gathered in their huddled ritual to hear rousing words from their senior leaders. After the speech filled with ‘be confidents’ and ‘we got this’ came to a close, the Hawks exploded the room with the chant, “Gold and Black, on the attack, Lets go Iowa, AH!” The Hawks were ready to compete. Here are the event highlights and notable gymnasts.
During the First Rotation, the Hawks were on High Bar and the energy in the building was enough to lift the ceiling off of the building. They had some misses on the event but more success than failure for sure. In particular, Senior Ben Ketelsen and Freshman Javier Balboa put of large numbers for the Hawks. The Second Rotation was the Floor, which seemed to be in the favor of our Hawkeye gymnasts. Their tumbling was nearly through the roof on some of their skills! Senior John Haines, Sophomore Anton Gryshayev, and So. Matt McGrath flipped well enough to give the Hawks great representation by the Hawks.
The Third rotation, the Pommel Horse, was somewhat rocky for the Hawks, however Sophomore Broderick Shemanksy despite a fall on the very last skill of his routine, put out clean swinging for the Hawkeye pommel horse team. It was now onto the Still Rings.
The event made for showing off the strength and stamina of gymnastics was represented well by the Hawks. Notables were So. Anton Grysahvev, Sr. John Haines, and Fr. Lance Alberhasky. They all from first skill to dismount posted good numbers and clean routines.
With Vault being the fifth rotation and two-thirds of the meet already being over, the Hawks sitting in 5th place were looking to post large numbers for the sake of getting one spot higher up in the rankings. Even though the event did not quite go as expected, So. Anton Gryshayev and Fr. Javier Balboa had clean landings on the event. It was now time to move on to the last and final event – the Parallel Bars.
Since Parallel Bars was the last event, the Hawks were bent on showing the crowd, judges and fans alike that despite mishaps that happened that day, they were not finished just yet. So. Jack McClay, Fr. Lance Alberhasky along with So. Anton Gryshayev sealed the event for the team with clean, solid routines and a guaranteed 5th place finish.
The 2011 Windy City Invite, even if there were no first and second place finishes for the Hawks, was a building experience. They are a young team with a new coach and new way of training. Just like a planted seed in the ground the Hawkeyes need time to grow and branch up into the team they know they can be. It may not happen overnight, but it will happen. Trust and believe in your Hawks; I do.
Some reminders Hawks:
1) Next home meet Feb. 11th @ 7 P.M. in the Fieldhouse. Be there!
2) Continue voting for February's Profiled Hawkeye!
3) GymFace Album #8! Vote for the best one!
4) New Skill of the Week!
5) Anything suggestion of what you want to see on the site?! Shoot us comment in the comment box below! Everyone can submit a comment, not just members!
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