Hearnes Center public address announcer Larry Noto will probably refer to Iowa State as the defending Big 12 gymnastics champion a few times tonight. That is, unless Jay Ronayne slips him a note first. The first-year Cyclones coach wants no part of the D-word lurking near his program.

“Someone told me a long time ago that it’s much harder to defend something than it is chase after something,” Ronayne said. “It’s not our trophy to defend. It’s ours to go after.”

A year ago in Lincoln, Neb., brilliant performances by Janet Anson (all-around), Erin Detloff (uneven bars), Laura Kay-Powell (balance beam, floor exercise) and Kacey Oiness (floor) helped Iowa State capture its first conference title since 2000. Anson was named Big 12 gymnast of the year, and K.J. Kindler was named coach of the year for the third straight season. The Cyclones went on to take sixth at the NCAA Championships.

A few months later, Kindler left Iowa State for the head-coaching job at Oklahoma. The next Iowa State coach would either inherit a budding top-10 program or a burden of expectations.

That person became Ronayne. He chose to assume the latter.

“That was the pressure that was there from the very beginning,” said Ronayne, a Massachusetts native who spent the previous four seasons as Auburn’s top assistant coach. “The No. 6 team in the nation, how are we going to live up to that? That put a ton of weight on me for a long time.”

As the season got started, though, Ronayne accepted the fact that his new team barely resembled the 2006 conference champs. Of the aforementioned standouts, only Anson was left on the roster.

“It’s a different team,” he said. “So, just keeping that in mind has made things a lot more fun.”

For the remaining gymnasts, the transition was difficult, too. Just when the Cyclones were becoming a nationally recognized program, the person behind the success was gone.

“I wouldn’t say there were hard feelings,” Anson said of Kindler’s departure. “But it was obviously hard. We had our best season last year in school history. It was a little confusing to have that happen.

“But we welcomed our new coaches with open arms, and we were all willing to go under their wing.”

It helped having one of the nation’s elite gymnasts on the roster. Last Friday, Anson posted the highest all-around score in the Big 12 this season, a 39.650.

Her consistent brilliance this year has earned her a nickname from Ronayne: “Janet Automatic.”

“She scores nearly a 39.5 every time she’s out there,” he said. “And it’s not like she’s feeling 100 percent every time either. I don’t know if she minds me sharing this, but she doesn’t feel that great when she’s out there just because of little nagging things, just like every athlete has. But you would never know it. That sets her apart from the rest of the world.”

The Kansas City native — her older sister, Laura, competed for Missouri a few years ago — still craves the one individual honor that’s eluded her career: a conference all-around title. She finished tied for second last year.

“But there’s so many good gymnasts,” she said, “that anyone who wins will be great.”

— Dave Matter

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