Jan. 21, 2007

RALEIGH, NC - 28th-ranked Iowa scored a 193.750 for a third-place finish today against No. 2 Georgia, No. 24 Ohio State, and No. 30 North Carolina State. Georgia won the competition, scoring 197.250. The Hawkeyes increased their team total more than a point over last week's competition, and are now 1-0 in conference play.

Freshman Katie Turcotte had a strong showing on vault, tying for second with a 9.9. Jenifer Simbhudas tied for sixth (9.875), and Kara Pinjuv tied for eighth place, scoring 9.85. On bars, Simbhudas and Ally Zipse had the best showing for Iowa, tying for ninth with a 9.75. On beam, Katie Burke led the Hawkeyes with a sixth-place 9.825 while Danielle Legeai tied for ninth (9.75).

"I'm very excited about our potential and I feel great about our performance today. We need to polish some things here and there, but by the time the Big Ten Championships come around, we'll be ready," said Iowa junior Katie Burke.

"We keep improving, we're motivated, and we're keeping our head in the game," added Iowa freshman Katie Turcotte.

"We're extremely pleased because even though we made mistakes, we increased our point total by more than a point, and for us that is a huge improvement. We felt like we did a lot better job on vault and beam, and although we made some mistakes that may have cost us second place, the team competed very well," said Iowa Head Coach Larissa Libby.

On floor, Pinjuv had the best placing for Iowa, coming in ninth (9.8), and Burke tied for 11th (9.75).

"We had a couple of mistakes at the beginning today, but we put it back together nicely and gave ourselves momentum to get through the meet," said sophomore Kara Pinjuv.

In the all-around, Burke and Pinjuv were among the top competitors, tying for third with 39.050. Simbhudas placed ninth in the event with a 38.350.

"It is extremely gratifying for the coaching staff to see the girls work so hard, and yes, we still have a lot of work to do, but if we continue to improve our point totals on a weekly basis we will be ready for more Big Ten competition," Libby said.

Iowa will compete at Illinois, Saturday, January 27th. Competition will take place at Huff Hall and is set to begin at 7 p.m.

Final Team Scores

Team	         Vault	Bars	Beam	Floor	Total

1. Georgia	49.400	49.125	49.500	49.225	197.250

2. NC State	49.075	48.475	48.350	48.725	194.625

3. Iowa	         49.075	48.425	47.950	48.300	193.750

4. Ohio State	49.000	48.600	46.800	48.850	193.250


Individual Results:

Vault (winner plus Iowa)

1. Katie Heenan (Georgia)	9.950

2t. Katie Turcotte (Iowa)	9.900

6t. Jenifer Simbhudas (Iowa)9.875

8t. Kara Pinjuv (Iowa)	9.850

14t. Katie Burke (Iowa)	9.800

19t. Nikki Page (Iowa)	9.650

22. Rachel LaCasse (Iowa)	9.600


Uneven Bars (winner plus Iowa)

1. Courtney Kupets (Georgia)9.925

9t. Jenifer Simbhudas (Iowa)9.750

9t. Ally Zipse (Iowa)	9.750

14. Kara Pinjuv (Iowa)	9.700

15t. Katie Burke (Iowa)	9.675

22t. Brandi Loffer (Iowa)	9.550

22t. Katie Turcotte (Iowa)	9.550


Balance Beam (winner plus Iowa)

1. Courtney Kupets (Georgia)9.950

6t. Katie Burke (Iowa) 	9.825

9t. Danielle Legeai (Iowa)	9.750

12t. Kara Pinjuv (Iowa)	9.700

17. Brandi Loffer (Iowa)	9.375

18. Jenifer Simbhudas (Iowa)9.300

24. Nikki Page (Iowa)	8.425  


Floor Exercise (winner plus Iowa)

1. Grace Taylor (Georgia)	9.900

9. Kara Pinjuv (Iowa)	9.800

11t. Katie Burke (Iowa)	9.750

17. Ally Zipse (Iowa)	9.675

18. Katie Turcotte (Iowa)	9.650

22t. Brandi Loffer (Iowa)	9.425

22t. Jenifer Simbhudas (Iowa)9.425


All-Around (winner plus Iowa)

1. Katie Heenan (Georgia)	39.400

3t. Katie Burke (Iowa)	39.050

3t. Kara Pinjuv (Iowa)	39.050

9. Jenifer Simbhudas (Iowa)	38.350