University of Iowa Women’s Gymnastics at Columbia Regional

April 10, 2010
The University of Iowa’s Women’s Gymnastics Team traveled to Columbia, Missouri on April 10 to compete in the NCAA Regional Championship. Iowa competed against some of the best teams in the country including University of Georgia, University of Missouri, Oregon State University, University of Minnesota, and the University of North Carolina.
Iowa started on the Beam where they were a little more unsteady than usual, but still pulled it out without having to count any falls. Junior Rebecca Simbhudas lead the Hawks with a score of 9.725.
They moved to floor where the Hawks had their highs and lows. Sophomore Jessa Hansen had one of the best performances of her career and the lead the GymHawks with a score of a 9.85. Junior Houry Gebeshian followed close behind with a score of 9.825 and then Simbhudas with a score of 9.8. With these three leading scores the Gymhawks kept in the race and continued on to their third event.
The third event was vault where the Hawks scored their best score of the season, 48.925. Freshman Emma Stevenson stepped up to replace Junior Arielle Sucich, who was injured in the previous competition (Big10s), scoring a 9.525. Simbhudas scored the highest score of a 9.875 and then sophomore Annie Szatkowski came behind her with a score of 9.8.
The final event of the night was the uneven bars. Simbhudas led the hawks again with a score of 9.85 and Gebeshian came in close with a score of 9.8. Freshman, Kaitlynn Urano stepped up to replace Sucich in the lineup and scored a solid 9.725.
The University of Iowa Hawkeyes held their own at such a tough competition, finishing up in 5th out of 6 teams. Last year, the Hawks hosted NCAA Regionals and placed last. They improved tremendously this season, not just at Regionals, but in rankings and at other competitions throughout the season.
A lot of history was made at this Regional, including the University of Georgia not moving on to the NCAA competition. The Georgia Gymdogs have WON the National Championship for 5 consecutive years and have won 10 times in all, however, this year they did not even make it to the competition. Instead, the University of Missouri and Oregon State University moved on to make it to the NCAA Championships (the top two teams move on to the NCAA’s).
For the first time in years, the Gymhawks had a gymnast qualify for the NCAA Competition. Rebecca Simbhudas will represent the University of Iowa Hawkeyes at the University of Florida competing in the all around. It is an honor for Simbhudas to make it to such a prestigious competition. The University of Iowa Women’s Gymnastics team ended a great season and is already preparing for an even better next season.