50 Iowa moments since Title IX: Iowa gymnastics captures first Big Ten title while taking down elusive rival

Editor’s note: This is 27th in a series counting down the Top 50 moments in Iowa Hawkeyes women’s athletics history in the 50 days leading up to the 50th anniversary of Title IX in June.

As Iowa women’s gymnastics competed in the 2021 Big Five meet, its head coach, Larissa Libby, remembers it being a “very scary” time.

Michigan State was in a COVID-19 quarantine that eventually led to the cancellation of its season.

“My focus was on trying to give my athletes the most normal experience that you possibly could in that time,” Libby told The Gazette.

But Libby and the Hawkeyes experienced quite a bit of euphoria during that challenging time.

They won the first Big Ten championship in Iowa women’s gymnastics history.

Libby called the moment she realized the Hawkeyes were Big Ten champions “indescribable.”

The Big Ten title, while the most notable in the record book, was not the only accomplishment that day.

Iowa secured its first regular-season crown in the Big Five meet in Ann Arbor, Mich. — a coveted opportunity to beat Michigan at Michigan, too.

“It's something that the upperclassmen had talked about forever,” Libby said. “They’ve been the best for a very long time. … The initial euphoria was, ‘Oh my god, we beat Michigan at Michigan.’”

Then Iowa could think about the other accomplishment — the Big Ten regular-season championship.

“I remember walking into the locker room and having to tell them that that's what happened,” Libby said. “Not only did they just beat Michigan, but we were undefeated. We put it all together. We finally became regular-season Big Ten champions.”

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