- Iowa State University has announced plans to discontinue its women’s gymnastics program.
- The decision follows the abrupt cancellation of the team’s season due to what ISU’s athletics director called ‘unreconcilable differences.’
- Coaches’ contracts will not be renewed, and athletes can either transfer or stay at ISU with their scholarships honored.
Iowa State University announced March 3 that it is cutting its women’s gymnastics program, weeks after abruptly canceling the remainder of the season due to what athletics director Jamie Pollard said were ‘unreconcilable differences’ in the program.
Cyclone gymnasts were informed of the decision to cut the program by ISU associate athletics director Shamaree Brown in a meeting on Tuesday morning, two people with direct knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports Network.
Iowa State gymnastics head coach Ashley Miles Greig and her three assistant coaches were told that their contracts would not be renewed, the university’s news release stated. Miles Greig’s contract was set to expire after the season on June 30, 2026.
Cyclones gymnasts will have the option to remain at Iowa State to finish their degrees, or to transfer to another NCAA school to compete in gymnastics. If they stay at Iowa State, ISU will honor their scholarships. Iowa State’s release said its compliance department would work with the NCAA on waivers to help gymnasts receive an additional year of competition.
Tuesday’s announcement ended weeks of speculation about the program’s future that began when Iowa State canceled its gymnastics season on Feb. 8. In a statement at the time, Brown said the decision was because the Cyclones did not have enough athletes available to compete. In a letter to the gymnastics team and alumni on Feb. 17, Pollard wrote that the cancellation resulted from ‘a series of complex internal conflicts between individual teammates, coaching staff members, and parents,’ language that Iowa State repeated in Tuesday’s release.
In a video released by the school, Pollard said Iowa State would take the next several months to decide which women’s sport would replace gymnastics so that the athletics department remains compliant with Title IX, a federal law that requires NCAA schools to provide proportional participation opportunities to men and women.
“I also want to say, this is not a financial decision. This is a student-athlete experience decision,’ Pollard said in the video. ‘Adding another women’s sport will probably cost equal or more than what we’re already spending on the gymnastics program. This is about student-athlete experience.”
Pollard said that Iowa State conducted reviews of its gymnastics program in 2018 and 2023 stemming from unspecified issues. The 2023 review, conducted by an external law firm, led Iowa State to part ways with then-head coach Jay Ronayne. Miles Greig was hired in April 2023.
Iowa State on March 3 denied USA TODAY Network’s public records request for the findings of the university’s 2018 and 2023 gymnastics probes. In an email denying the request, Ann Lelis, a member of Iowa State’s office of general counsel, cited portions of state open records law that prevent the disclosure of personal information of students or public employees. Lelis also said the requested records were not subject to disclosure because they contained confidential attorney privileged documents.
Pollard said he asked his senior leadership team ‘to meet with those individuals in our department that work really closely with our gymnastics program and make a recommendation to me about what we should do going forward.’
The leadership team recommended to Pollard that the school discontinue the gymnastics program, Pollard said, and use those resources for a different women’s sport. Pollard accepted the recommendation from his staff, and he spoke with university leaders. ‘We are all on the same page,’ he said. ‘This is the right decision for our athletics program and for our student-athletes.’
Iowa State’s annual financial report submitted to the NCAA for fiscal year 2025 showed the gymnastics program generated $287,392 in total operating revenues with $1.69 million in expenses, a gap of about $1.4 million. Iowa State allotted 14 scholarships to gymnastics.
Cyclone gymnastics recruits who had committed to the program for the 2026-27 season can commit to a different school or attend Iowa State and have their scholarship agreements honored.
Miles Greig could not be immediately reached for comment when contacted Tuesday morning by USA TODAY Sports.
Former Iowa State gymnast Shea Mattingly, whose last name was Anderson when she graduated in 2012, said she had been in contact with other former members of the team after Tuesday’s announcement.
‘We’re all frustrated. We’re all angry,’ Mattingly said. ‘That (Pollard) video made us all really mad, honestly. … It places all the blame on these student-athletes whereas the administration’s accountability in this, they hired these coaches that maybe it seems like they couldn’t handle the program.’
Mattingly said she and other alums aren’t giving up hope on the future of the program.
‘I think we’re still going to fight,’ she said. ‘So we’re going to send emails. We’re going to call. We’re going to do all we can, even though it seems his mind has been made up.’
This story will be updated.
