University of Minnesota Athletics
GYMNASTS TO HOST FINAL DUAL MEET OF THE SEASON
3/15/1999 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
MINNESOTA RANKED NO. 11 - The Golden Gophers are ranked No. 11 after the ninth week of competition with a regional qualifying score of 194.6750. This week's opponent, Denver, is 23rd at 193.8937. Minnesota is one of five Big Ten Conference schools listed in the ranking. The others are Penn State (No. 5), Michigan (No. 6), Ohio State (No. 10) and Illinois (No. 21). The RQS is based on a team's six best regular-season meet scores, of which two must be home and two away. The high score and the low score are eliminated and the remaining four scores are averaged. The next rankings will be released Wednesday.
POURSHOUSHTARI OUT FOR SEASON - Frosh Mariam Pourshoushtari (Rockville, Md./Walter Johnson) tore her left ACL on her beam dismount at Iowa State and will not return this season.
MINNESOTA RECENTLY - The Gophers avenged a Feb. 20 loss to West Virginia by defeating the No. 14 Mountaineers, 194.375-189.875, Friday at the Sports Pavilion.
Junior Judy Cavazos (Monterrey, Mexico/Mexicana del Noreste) won her eighth uneven bars title of the season, recording a 9.875, and her sixth floor exercise title of the season, scoring 9.85. Cavazos tied for second on the balance beam with a 9.85, which ties her career best.
Minnesota swept the top three places on the uneven bars and floor exercise. Junior Melissa Chang (Blue Springs, Mo./Blue Springs) placed second on the bars with a score of 9.8, while frosh Catie Christensen (Columbus, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) was third at 9.775. Christensen and frosh MaryAnne Kelley (Barrington, Ill./ Fremd) tied for second place on the floor exercise at 9.8. Kelley won the all around at 38.3.
DENVER RECENTLY - The Pioneers are coming off a 195.875- 193.625 victory over Pittsburgh Friday in Denver. All six Denver athletes scored 9.75 or higher on the vault, including a 9.90 by Jennifer Ebdon and 9.850 scores by Jill Gunter and Jennifer White. Melanie Schiff won the uneven bars with a 9.925, and Sachi Ena placed first on balance beam with a 9.90.
Head coach Melissa Kutcher is in her first year at Denver after working as an assistant coach at Michigan the past five seasons.
KEYSER SETS MINNESOTA SEASON-HIGH ON BEAM - Senior Cathy Keyser (Plymouth, Minn./Lake Fininndero (Australia)), the 1998 Big Ten balance beam champion, won the balance beam Friday with a season-high 9.90. That score is Minnesota's highest beam score of the season.
CAVAZOS WINS ON BARS AND FLOOR, AGAIN - Judy Cavazos won her eighth uneven bars title of the season Friday against West Virginia. She has scored a 9.80 or higher on the uneven bars in 10 of the 11 meets this season. She recorded a 9.925 on at Illinois, the highest bars score by any Minnesota gymnast this season. Cavazos is tied for No. 13 in the nation on bars. She has a season average of 9.798 and owns the Minnesota record on the bars at 9.95.
Cavazos also won her sixth floor exercise title of the season Friday. She has scored a 9.80 or higher on the floor exercise in all 11 meets this season, with a season-high 9.9 at Illinois. She is tied at No. 14 in the nation on the floor exercise. Cavazos has a season average of 9.855 and and a share of the school record at 9.95. She has won both uneven bars and floor exercise in the same meet six times.
CHRISTENSEN MOVES INTO FLOOR RANKING - Catie Christensen is tied for No. 23 in the floor exercise rankings with a RQS of 9.8625. She averages 9.793, with a season-high of 9.90 at Iowa a week ago. She has recorded a 9.80 or higher in nine of the 10 meets she has competed, including the last five.
BEUCKENS HITTING THE MARK - Frosh Megan Beuckens (Brandon, S.D./Brandon) has been making a mark in her first season with the Gophers. Beuckens recorded a 9.925 on the floor exercise at Iowa, the highest floor exercise score for the Gophers this season and the third-best mark in school history. She followed that mark with a 9.875 at Iowa State.
Beuckens has been solid on the balance beam this season. She has scored 9.70 or higher nine of 11 times this season, including a career-high 9.80 at Iowa State.
FIVE DIFFERENT GOPHERS LEAD EVENTS - Five different Minnesota athletes hold the team's top score in the five events. Sophomore Shanyn Lancaster (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Lahser) recorded a 9.90 on the vault March 5. Judy Cavazos is the Gophers' top scorer on the uneven bars, with a 9.925 on Feb. 27. Cathy Keyser scored Minnesota's top balance beam mark at 9.90 Friday against West Virginia. Megan Beuckens has Minnesota's top floor exercise score of the season, 9.925, set on March 5. MaryAnne Kelley scored a 39.025 in the all around March 5 for the team's top score of the season.
GOLDEN GOPHER CO-HEAD COACHES JIM AND MEG STEPHENSON - Co-head coaches Jim and Meg Stephenson are in their second season as co-head coaches at Minnesota. The duo earned 1998 Big Ten Coach of the Year honors after leading the Golden Gophers to their first conference title since 1991. The duo has a 27-12 record as co-head coaches.
Jim Stephenson is in his seventh season as head coach of the Golden Gophers. He earned Big Ten Coach of the Year honors in 1997 and 1995. Stephenson has a career record of 100-95, with a record of 73-83 in his first five years at Minnesota. Jim Stephenson came to Minnesota after a four-year stint as assistant coach at Utah. While there, he coached nine All-Americans on the uneven bars.
Meg Stephenson is in her second season as co-head coach of the Golden Gophers. She was an assistant coach at Minnesota for five seasons. Prior to coming to Minnesota, Meg Stephenson was a consultant for four years at the University of Utah, where she assisted in both balance beam and floor exercise.
NATIONAL RANKING (March 10) - 1. Georgia 197.1125 2. Alabama 197.0750 3. Utah 196.6375 4. LSU 195.9312 5. Penn State 195.8812 6. Michigan 195.6562 7. Arizona St. 195.5062 8. Nebraska 195.2562 9. Maryland 194.8687 10.Ohio State 194.7000 11.Minnesota 194.6750 12.Iowa State 194.4750 13.Oregon State 194.4500 14.W. Virginia 194.4375 15.Florida 194.3875 16.Utah State 194.3250 17.Oklahoma 194.3062 18.UCLA 194.2875 19.Stanford 194.1500 20.Ill.-Chicago 193.9750 21.Illinois 193.9375 Kentucky 193.9375 23.Denver 193.8937 24.N.C. State 193.8375 25.Towson 193.7125
OTHER TEAM RANKINGS - Event Rank RQS Vault 18 48.5500 Uneven Bars 11 48.8687 Balance Beam 23 48.3750 Floor Exercise 9 49.0750 INDIVIDUALS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS - Event rank name RQS Uneven Bars t13 Judy Cavazos 9.8875 Floor Exercise t14 Judy Cavazos 9.8812 t23 Catie Christensen 9.8625 REGION 2 RANKINGS - 1.Utah 196.6376 2.Minnesota 194.6750 3.Iowa State 194.4750 4.Utah State 194.3250 5.Denver 193.8937 UP NEXT - The defending Big Ten champion Gophers travel to the conference meet on Saturday, March 27, at Michigan State.
