University of Minnesota Athletics
GYMNASTS ATTEMPT TO DEFEND THEIR BIG TEN TITLE THIS WEEKEND
3/23/1999 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
MINNESOTA RANKED NO. 16 - The Golden Gophers are ranked No. 16 after the 10th week of competition with a regional qualifying score of 194.700. Minnesota is one of five Big Ten Conference schools listed in the ranking. The others are Michigan (No. 5), Penn State (No. 6), Ohio State (No. 9) and Illinois (No. 24). 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.
BIG TEN PREVIEW -
Team title - Minnesota and Michigan have combined to win the last eight titles, with the Wolverines winning six straight conference titles before the Golden Gophers placed first a year ago. Michigan hast the conference lead of seven team titles. Ohio State is second with five, and Minnesota has four. Of the seven Big Ten schools with women's gymnastics programs, five were ranked last week. Michigan State and Iowa are not ranked.
Minnesota is 4-0 against conference teams in 1999. The Gophers defeated Michigan in Ann Arbor on Jan. 15, 193.550-193.050. Minnesota swept Iowa in the two meetings, Feb. 13 at the Sports Pavilion and March 5 in Iowa City. The Gophers defeated Illinois on Feb. 27, 194.900-194.475, in Champaign, Ill.
Vault - Lindsey Vagades of Ohio State won the vault in her first season, scoring a 9.9. Vagades and Michigan athletes Sarah Cain and Lisa Simes are tied for the Big Ten lead with a RQS of 9.90. Minnesota's top competitor is sophomore Shanyn Lancaster (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./ Lahser), who leads the team with a 9.733 average. She scored a personal-best 9.90 at Iowa on March 5.
Uneven bars - Michigan senior Nikki Peters will try for her fourth consecutive uneven bars title. She recorded a perfect 10.0 to win the event in both 1996 and 1998. Peters is fourth on the Big Ten list this season. Susan Eckman of Ohio State is first with an RQS of 9.9125. Minnesota's Judy Cavazos (Monterrey, Mexico/ Mexicana del Noreste) is fifth with a RQS of 9.8875. She has recorded a season-high 9.925 twice, most recently on Sunday against Denver.
Balance beam - Minnesota's Cathy Keyser (Plymouth, Minn./Lake Fininndero (Australia)) won the title in 1998, scoring 9.875. She was the second consecutive Golden Gopher to win the event, as former Minnesota athlete and current student assistant coach Mindy Knaeble finished in a three-way tie for the title in 1997 with Michigan athletes Beth Amelkovich and Lisa Simes. Both Amelkovich and Simes are back this year. Michigan State's Carolyn Hecht, the 1996 co-champion, returns for the 1999 championships in her home arena. She has the fifth-best RQS this season.
Floor exercise - Michigan sophomore Bridget Knaeble, younger sister of former Gopher Mindy Knaeble, won the floor exercise last year with a 9.875. She is tied for third this season. Sarah Cain has the top floor exercise RQS, 9.9437. Judy Cavazos has Minnesota's highest floor exercise average of the season, 9.858, while frosh Megan Beuckens (Brandon, S.D./Brandon) has the team's highest score of the season, 9.925, on March 5.
All around - Michigan athletes won six straight all around titles before Penn State's Ellen Casey won the title last year. Casey returns to defend her title this season and is ranked No. 2 in the conference. The 1997 champion, Sarah Cain, is back as a junior, as is the 1996 champion, senior Beth Amelkovich. Cain is a definite favorite for the all around title this year as she is ranked No. 1 this season in the all around, floor exercise and vault, while ranked second on balance beam and seventh on uneven bars.
Minnesota has had two athletes competing in the all around this season. Frosh MaryAnne Kelley (Barrington, Ill./Fremd) recorded the team's highest all around score, 39.025, on March 5. Judy Cavazos has not had an all around score the past four meets but may return to the vault lineup this weekend.
LAST YEAR AT THE BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS - Minnesota ended Michigan's streak of six straight conference championships. The Gophers placed first with 195.400, while Michigan was second at 194.900. Minnesota co-head coaches Jim and Meg Stephenson earned Big Ten Coach of the Year honors. It was the third honor for Jim Stephenson, who earned the honor in 1997 and shared the award in 1995. Cathy Keyser won the balance beam. Judy Cavazos placed second on the uneven bars, breaking the school record with a 9.95.
MINNESOTA HISTORY AT THE BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS - The Gophers have won four titles in team history. Minnesota will try to win back-to-back titles for the second time, as the Gophers won in both 1988 and 1989. Minnesota's other title came in 1991. The Gophers set a school record of 196.350 at the conference meet in 1996 at the Sports Pavilion, finishing second to Michigan's conference meet record of 197.150. Minnesota has finished either first or second in eight of the 17 conference championships.
MINNESOTA RECENTLY - Minnesota set a school record on the uneven bars en route to 196.125-194.700 victory over No. 19 Denver on Sunday in the Sports Pavilion. The total score is Minnesota's highest of the season and the second-best in school history.
All five Minnesota scorers recorded a 9.825 or higher on the bars, leading to a record of 49.350. Judy Cavazos won her ninth uneven bars title of the season with a 9.925, which ties her season high. Sophomore Megan Skokut< /a> (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) set a personal best of 9.90 to place second. Frosh Catie Christensen (Columbus, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) tied her personal best with a 9.875, placing third. Senior Cathy Keyser and junior Melissa Chang (Blue Springs, Mo./Blue Springs) tied for fifth at 9.825. Both scores are season bests.
Keyser won the balance beam for the sixth time this season, tying her personal best with a 9.925. That is Minnesota's highest balance beam score of the season. Cavazos placed third with a 9.825.
Cavazos won the floor exercise title for the eighth time this season, scoring a 9.90. She has won both bars and floor seven times this season.
CAVAZOS WINS ON BARS AND FLOOR, AGAIN - Judy Cavazos won the uneven bars Sunday against Denver, tying her season best with a 9.925. She has won nine uneven bars titles this season. Cavazos is listed in the uneven bars ranking, tied for No. 19 with a RQS of 9.8875. She averages 9.798 on the uneven bars and owns the Minnesota record on the bars at 9.95.
Cavazos also won her eighth floor exercise title of the season Sunday, tying her season-best with a 9.90. She has scored a 9.80 or higher on the floor exercise in all 12 meets this season. Cavazos is tied for No. 16 in the nation on the floor exercise with a regional qualifying score of 9.8812. She averages 9.858 on the floor exercise and has a share of the school record at 9.95.
KEYSER MOVES INTO BALANCE BEAM RANKINGS - Cathy Keyser, the 1998 Big Ten balance beam champion, has moved into the national rankings for the first time this season. She is tied for No. 21 on the balance beam with a regional qualifying score of 9.8562. She has won the balance beam six times this season and averages 9.744 on the beam, led by a Minnesota season-high 9.90 last Friday against West Virginia.
CHRISTENSEN RANKED ON FLOOR - Catie Christensen entered the national rankings for the first time a week ago, at No. 23 in the floor exercise. She fell out of the rankings this week despite recording a 9.80 against West Virginia on March 12. Christensen has scored a 9.80 or higher in 11 of the 12 meets this season, including the last seven.
FIVE DIFFERENT GOPHERS LEAD EVENTS - Five different Minnesota athletes hold the team's top score in the five events. Shanyn Lancaster recorded a 9.90 on the vault March 5. Judy Cavazos is the Gophers' top scorer on the uneven bars, with a 9.925 set twice, Sunday against Denver and Feb. 27 at Illinois. Cathy Keyser scored Minnesota's top balance beam mark of 9.925 Sunday. 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.
POURSHOUSHTARI AND MAZZONE OUT FOR SEASON - Frosh Mariam Pourshoushtari (Rockville, Md./Walter Johnson) tore her left ACL on her beam dismount at Iowa State. She had surgery on Thursday and will not return this season.
Senior Jenny Mazzone (Sparks, Nev./McQueen) had knee surgery Dec. 14 and will not return to the Golden Gopher lineup.
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 28-12 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 101-95, 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, 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 16) - 1.Georgia 197.1125 2.Alabama 197.0875 3.Utah 196.8000 4.LSU 196.1562 5.Michigan 196.0812 6.Penn State 196.0375 7.Nebraska 195.6375 8.Arizona State 195.5062 9.Ohio State 195.1375 10.Maryland 195.1000 11.Florida 194.9187 12.Utah State 194.8125 13.Oregon State 194.8125 14.UCLA 194.7375 15.Stanford 194.7375 16.Minnesota 194.7000 17.Oklahoma 194.6062 18.Kentucky 194.5937 19.Denver 194.5250 20.Iowa State 194.4750 21.West Virginia 194.4375 22.Illinois-Chicago 194.3812 23.North Carolina State 194.2687 24.Illinois 194.2187 25.Towson 194.2125 OTHER TEAM RANKINGS (March 16) - Event Rank RQS Vault 19 48.5562 Uneven Bars 16 48.8687 Balance Beam 24 48.4375 Floor Exercise 10 49.0750 INDIVIDUALS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS - Uneven Bars t19 Judy Cavazos 9.8875 Balance Beam t21 Cathy Keyser 9.8562 Floor Exercise t16 Judy Cavazos 9.8812 BIG TEN RANKINGS (March 16) - 1.Michigan 196.0812 2.Penn State 196.0375 3.Ohio State 195.1375 4.Minnesota 194.7000 5.Illinois 194.2187 6.Michigan St. 192.6375 REGION 2 RANKINGS (March 16) - 1.Utah 196.8000 2.Utah State 194.8125 3.Minnesota 194.7000 4.Denver 194.5250 5.Iowa State 194.4750 6.Brigham Young 193.9562 7.Southern Utah 192.4625 8.Air Force Academy 189.0062 9.Hamline 176.3875 UP NEXT - The Region 2 meet will be held April 10 at Utah State. The top six teams from the region will compete, based on regional qualifying score.
