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No. 9 Hawkeyes Set for Final Home Meet
Iowa hosts Minnesota and Nebraska
The No.
9-ranked University of Iowa men’s gymnastics team competes in its final
home meet of the season against No. 11 Nebraska and No. 10 Minnesota on
Feb. 14 inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The competition will be televised
live by the Big Ten Network with play-by-play commentator Dean Linke
and analyst John Rothelisberger on the call.
SENIOR NIGHT:
William
Albert, Lance Alberhasky, and Brandon Field will be honored for Senior
Night following the completion of this weekend’s meet. Albert has
competed on rings and vault for Iowa. He tied for 13th on vault at last
year’s Big Ten Championships. His personal bests are: vault (15.050)
and rings (15.250). Alberhasky, an Iowa City native, has competed in
the all-around for the Hawkeyes in four years at Iowa. He contributed
an 11th place finish at Big Ten Championships in 2013 in the all-around
(80.900) and was named team captain in his final two years. Field has
excelled on floor while at Iowa. He placed 17th on floor (14.700) at
NCAA Championships in 2013, and set a career-high on floor (15.000)
during a meet against Nebraska in 2014.
FOLLOW ALONG:
Fans
can follow the meet online through live stats at meetscoresonline.com.
A live stream of the meet is also available. Links to both are located
on the Iowa men’s gymnastics schedule page at hawkeyesports.com.
LAST TIME OUT:
The
Hawkeyes traveled to Champaign, Illinois, to face the Illini on Feb. 7.
Iowa came up short, falling to Illinois 440.150 to 424.500. Junior Doug
Sullivan captured Iowa’s only event title of the meet on pommel horse
with a 14.850 effort. Freshman Austin Hodges set a career-high on
pommel horse, with a score of 14.450 and a fifth place finish, and
freshman Dylan Ellsworth set a career-high, placing fifth on parallel
bars with a 14.450.
BOYLE SELECTED CO-BIG TEN GYMNAST OF THE WEEK:
Junior
Jack Boyle was named Co-Big Ten Gymnast of the Week following Iowa’s
win over UIC on Jan. 24. Boyle contributed two event titles -- rings
(15.400) and floor (14.750) -- and finished second on parallel bars
(14.400). It is Boyle’s first weekly conference honor of his career and
the first for the Hawkeyes since Matt McGrath earned the award on March
17, 2014.
NATIONALLY RANKED:
The Hawkeyes are ranked in the
top 10 nationally according to the most recent national ranking list on
roadtonationals.com (Feb. 9). The rankings are based on an average of
the team’s top three scores. Penn State earned the top spot followed by
Oklahoma, Illinois, Stanford and Michigan. California and Ohio State
sit at sixth and seventh, respectively. Air Force is eighth, and Iowa
and Minnesota round out the top 10.
1. Penn State
2. Oklahoma
3. Illinois
4. Stanford
5. Michigan
6. California
7. Ohio State
8. Air Force
9. Iowa
10. Minnesota
HAWKEYES LOG FIRST WIN:
The
Gymhawks notched their first win of 2015 with a 428.600-398.600 victory
over the UIC Flames on Jan. 24. Jack Boyle led the Hawkeyes
winning rings with a score of 15.400. Doug Sullivan won pommel horse,
scoring a 14.950, and Elijah Parsells placed second on the event with a
career-high 14.050 effort. Freshman Austin Hodges tied for third on
high bar, setting a new career-high with a score of 14.100.
SIX HAWKEYES EARN PCA HONORS:
Six
gymnasts were honored by the PCA (Presidential Committee for Academic
Awards) this past week. Cyrus Dobre-Mofid, Andrew Botto, Zach Wendland,
Cory Paterson, and Caleb Fischle-Faulk were honored during the Iowa vs.
Maryland men’s basketball game on Feb. 8. Each year the PCA honors
student-athletes who have achieved a 3.0 GPA and are letterwinners. The
PCA is responsible for advising the UI President and director of
athletics Gary Barta on policies for the University’s intercollegiate
athletics programs, and recognizes student-athletes for their
accomplishments in and out of the classroom.
SULLIVAN STREAKING:
Junior
Doug Sullivan continues to be a bright spot for the Hawkeyes on pommel
horse. In the last three meets, the pommel specialist has averaged a
14.900 on the event, clinching event titles against UIC (14.950) and
Illinois (14.850). The Aurora, Illinois., native is Iowa’s pommel horse
record holder with a score of 15.250.
HAWKEYE FACILITY RENOVATION:
The
men’s and women’s gymnastics teams are amidst a practice facility
renovation. Located in the UI Field House, the renovation will provide
the gymnasts with more space to practice, and include two new foam pits
and another pommel horse. The project will help accelerate the
gymnasts’ skills and improve safety at the facility. The gym is nearing
completion and the teams hope to start training in it by April.
SUMMER COMPETITIONS:
Many
Iowa gymnasts stayed busy over the summer by competing in national and
international competitions. Sophomore Cory Paterson kicked off the
summer by being named a Canadian National Champion on high bar.
Paterson scored a 13.850 and finished fifth in the all-around
competition with a 79.800. The Hawkeyes also had three gymnasts qualify
for the P&G Championships in August. Juniors Jack Boyle and Matt
Loochtan qualified for the senior division, while freshman Austin
Hodges made the cut for the junior division. Loochtan scored a 14.900
on high bar, clinching ninth place in the event. His all-around score
of 54.600 was good enough for 31st. Boyle’s 14.950 on rings earned him
an eighth place finish on the event and an all-around score of 79.650
tied him for 26th. Head coach JD Reive believes summer competitions are
a necessary part of building a championship program at Iowa.
HEAD COACH JD REIVE:
Entering
his fifth year as head coach of the Hawkeyes, Reive has high
expectations for his team. For the first time in his career Reive has a
team comprised of gymnasts he personally recruited. He is looking to
take the program another step forward.
In 2014, the gymnasts set
seven school records and seven went on to compete individually at the
NCAA Championships. The team finished seventh in the Big Ten and missed
the team finals at the NCAA Championships in April. Reive led the
Hawkeyes to a fifth place finish at the NCAA Championships in 2013,
their best finish in a decade.
Reive graduated from Nebraska in 2000
with a bachelor of journalism degree and was an assistant at Stanford
from 2003-10 where he helped the team grab four top three finishes.
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