Jay Ronayne (pronounced roe-NANE), whose superlative recruiting efforts helped raise the national profile of the Auburn University gymnastics program in the highly competitive SEC, was named Head Coach at Iowa State University on July 5, 2006.

Ronayne is married to the former Mary Hefferin, who is the Iowa State University director of gymnastics operations.

Mary Ronayne, Director of Gymnastics Operations

Mary Ronayne joined the Cyclone gymnastics staff from Auburn where she served as assistant director of the Aquatics Center for four years. Prior to that, she worked as an elementary school teacher, spending her summers working in operations and facilities for the Board of Park and Recreation Department (BOPARC) of Morgantown , W. Va. A 1998 graduate of West Virginia, Ronayne earned a bachelor’s of science degree in elementary education.

TeShawne Jackson was named as an assistant coach in July of 2006. Jackson brings a high level of experience to the program after previously competing and coaching at the collegiate level. She came to Iowa State from William & Mary where she served as an assistant coach in 2006. Her responsibilities will include choreography, beam, and floor as well as recruiting.

Prior to William and Mary, Jackson worked at Ball State for the 2004-2005 season, assisting on all events with a main focus on beam and floor. She also assisted with promotion of the team’s meets.

Jackson is a 2004 graduate of West Virginia, with a memorable four-year career for the Mountaineers under head coach Linda Burdette. Jackson was the East Atlantic Gymnastics League vault and all-around champion in 2001 and 2002, tying the WVU career record for individual conference titles (4). In 2000, Jackson took the NCAA North Central Regional Championship in floor exercise and was an individual national qualifier in 1999, 2000 and 2002.

Jackson holds the WVU career record for perfect-10.00 performance in all events with a total of seven. She also holds the school’s career record for most scores of 9.90 or higher on vault and floor with 23 and 21, respectively. She also has a gymnastics move named after her, which is recognized in the Code of Points. Jackson earned a bachelor’s degree of science in physical education with a co-concentration in athletic coaching education.

Jay Santos, Assistant Coach

Jay Santos brings 27 years of experience in gymnastics to Iowa State, including 12 years of coaching and competing at the Division I level. Most recently he was at Ohio State, where he spent two seasons as an assistant coach. While at OSU, Santos was responsible for coaching bars and floor and was a major factor in recruiting correspondence. He also coached five Buckeyes to All-Big Ten honors. At Iowa State, Santos serves as the recruiting coordinator and bars coach for head coach Jay Ronayne.

Prior to Ohio State, Santos served as women’s team director and head coach at Somersault Gymnastics Center in Stoughton, Mass., for four years. He coached at Somersault for a total of eight years. During his first four years he split time between the men’s and women’s teams before taking over the women’s program in 2001. He was responsible for all facets of the women’s program and produced several Junior Olympic national and regional qualifiers, and many state champions. Santos served as a nationally rated men’s gymnastics judge from 1997-2001, working numerous college dual meets as well as Junior Olympic state and regional championships.

Santos graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1995, earning a business degree in Operations Management. He competed for the men’s gymnastics team for four seasons and during his stay at UMass the Minutemen won the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) team championship in 1995, and the New England regional championship from 1992-1995. Individually, Santos was a three-time co-captain for UMass (1993-95) and was twice named most improved gymnast. Santos was the first two-time recipient of UMass’ coveted "Hulk Award," given to the most consistent pommel horse competitor.