09 Feb NCAA Extra! All Eyes On Iowa – Quick Hits with freshman Karina Munoz | Inside Gymnastics
“Karina moving into the All-Around tonight was huge for many reasons. It has always been the plan to compete her as an All-Arounder but we wanted to make sure she was comfortable with collegiate competition and her role within the team before we tried it. While it wasn’t in the plans for this evening, a few different circumstances made the choice much easier. As with former freshman, Marissa Rojas, Karina anchored the beam lineup tonight, scoring a 9.925 just as Marissa did her first time anchoring the beam team. Karina’s huge beam score not only allowed her to win the all-around title tonight, but it surpassed our lowest counting score from the beginning of the year.” – Iowa Head Coach Larissa Libby on Karina Muñoz’ performance against Nebraska
NCAA Extra! All Eyes On Iowa – Quick Hits with freshman Karina Muñoz!
With all eyes on The Big Ten in Iowa this weekend as the No. 17 Hawkeyes and No. 12 Michigan State Spartans face off in a regular season matchup in Xtream Arena – the home of this year’s Big Ten Championship – everyone is about to become very familiar with Iowa freshman Karina Muñoz.
In Iowa’s outing against No. 36 Nebraska just last week, Muñoz captured three event titles and the All-Around title (39.350) in her first-ever run at all four events for the Hawkeyes. She also tied her career high, 9.850, on vault to tie for first place with her two teammates, seniors Linda Zivat and JerQuavia Henderson.
As we look ahead to Saturday, let’s get to know this extraordinary freshman with an artistic flair who could very well be a key player for Iowa over the next four years.
For a full meet preview, Click Here!
It’s your freshman year as a Hawkeye, and you slid into an All-Around position this week, your fifth meet of your college career. Tell us a little bit more about how it’s been settling into college gymnastics!
I feel it was pretty easy for me to settle in from doing club gymnastics and high school gymnastics. High school gymnastics is more like college because it’s more team-oriented and not individual. So it was easier for me to slide into doing college gymnastics because of all the team aspects.
We didn’t actually know that you did high school gymnastics! Was there ever a point in your career when going from that individual part of gymnastics and then to the team, was a hard transition, or has it been a fun thing for you?
It was always like a fun thing for me because even in club, I never had a full team. It was always like two or three of us. So, I felt like [club] wasn’t really a big team thing. Going into high school and actually having a whole team behind me and supporting me is something that I really loved more.
It feels like college gymnastics is a great space for you! One thing a lot of people are also noticing is your artistry and performance, and the quality of your movement, but also just the personality that comes out in that. Where does that come from? Have you had dance training in your life or where has all of that been brewing up for us to now see Karina Muñoz crushing it?
It’s my Hispanic heritage, I feel. I did dance when I was little, but it was ballet and I didn’t really like it! It just wasn’t me, like myself. Just being Hispanic, I feel, and having all of the beat background music – I always grew up just up dancing around. Obviously with gymnastics, I felt more closed in, actually, in club gymnastics – it really was more robotic in format. Being able to have a new routine, new music, and just actually express my true emotion on floor is what helped me drive my feel this year!
That’s awesome! So what was it like creating your floor routine this year? Obviously, Larissa does choreography here, but did you have a say in your music at all? Talk about the process…
Actually, I feel like it was Ryan (Ruckdaschel, Iowa Gymnastics Director of Operations)! He brought up the Brazilian piece! And then actually, me and Linda, we used to freestyle to “Pure Honey” by Beyonce. Just like in the beginning of practice, we’d just turn it on, and then we’d have our own little freestyle. And some of that stuff is from what I did during the freestyling. So Larissa’s like, ‘We’re adding that in, we’re adding that in.’ So it honestly wasn’t that hard to create the routine!
Iowa’s Karina Muñoz competes on the floor against the Minnesota Golden Gophers Friday, January 27, 2023 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. (Brian Ray/hawkeyesports.com)
That’s so fun! Do you feel that same energy and passion of getting excited for floor every time you step up? Or, is it a more competitive mindset? How do you balance that thought process between dance and performance and it still needing to be a deduction-less floor routine?
Of course I get excited every single time! Usually I’m in the fourth spot, so just seeing the people before me like Bailey (Libby), Aubrey (Nick), Linda, just seeing that, I’m like, ‘okay, I’m ready!’ It’s building up every single time. And I just find the cameras and do my thing every time!
This past week you definitely found the camera!
Yes! (laughs)
I remember Olivia Karas was mentioning wow, she actually knows when the camera is and what camera to look at! It’s cool seeing that, because not everyone desires to drive that out of a routine – they get up there and try and do a deduction-less floor routine. Tell us a little bit more about why that’s important to you – to just bring the audience into your performance…
I feel that’s more important to me, because going back to club, I just felt closed in. You can’t really engage your audience in club gymnastics because it’s more like, just the judges. Having fans, even if it’s not your own, I’m always like, ‘Make sure to look at them and drag them in at the end of the floor routine!’ I always make sure to raise my hands and look at everybody so they can drag in and hone into my floor routine, so that’s something that really helps me, I feel.
That’s awesome! Okay, so you performed in front of a Hawkeye crowd for the first time against Minnesota. What was that like? It’s your freshman year. It’s the first time you’re in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. What was it like to have a home crowd there for you?
It was so much fun because we were on the road for like, three weeks! Just having our own home crowd and like, people I actually knew, like, every time I looked in the stands, I’d see someone I knew! Having Hawkeye Nation behind us and the team, seeing how well we’ve been doing so far was something truly incredible!
I always love a good floor party at the end of a home meet! Knowing that performance was coming towards the end of the meet, was that an exciting moment for you?
That was so exciting because I feel Iowa gymnastics – we’re always known for our floor team – and just to even be a part of floor lineup is something huge because I feel like it’s pretty hard to get into the lineup. So that’s something that really excited me!
You and your team are heading to Xtream Arena this weekend, so it’ll be a little bit of a different environment. Although you’ve only competed in Carver once, it’s still your home field? It’s going to be a very exciting time. It’ll feel a little bit more close knit with 5000 seats in Xtream. But what are you most excited about for this weekend?
We’re really excited just to feel out the arena because as we all know, we’re hosting Big Tens at Xtream, so being able to get in there beforehand will help, I feel, in the long run. Just being able to do it in a different arena to get a feel for everything, I feel like it’s going to be really fun!
I love it! Any other things you want to say to Hawkeye fans or any gymnastics fans? Just in general, or just as it pertains to the things that you love to bring to college gymnastics and what legacy Karina is going to leave in her career?
I just want to thank everyone from Iowa gymnastics, for every opportunity that they’ve given me and for all the supporters, because Iowa gymnastics has been on the come up, I feel. We’re bringing in fans and we hope to continue to keep seeing these fans, to see us grow as a the team because we’re a strong team and everyone is just truly amazing and we’re ready to bring it on!
“GO HAWKS”
~ @Karinamunozz_, probably pic.twitter.com/LUvc1A70qw
— Iowa Gymnastics (@IowaGymnastics) February 3, 2023
Xtras!
- Inside Gymnastics Behind the Scenes Takeover on Saturday, Feb 11 @InsideGym
If You Go:
The meet is set to start at 5 p.m. (CT) with intros at 4:45. Fans are encouraged to wear black.
Xtream Arena powered by Mediacom is a multipurpose arena in Coralville, Iowa, that opened in September 2020. The main tenants of the arena are the Iowa Hawkeyes volleyball teams and the professional ice hockey team Iowa Heartlanders of the ECHL.
How to Watch:
Michigan State at Iowa 5 p.m. CT on BTN+
Photos courtesy of Iowa Gymnastics
For More:
Just Iowa’s Adeline Kenlin Being Amazing
Breaking Boundaries – Iowa Hawkeyes
The Perfect Time to Redefine By Kathy Johnson Clarke
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