University of Minnesota Athletics
GYMNASTS PREPARE FOR NCAA REGIONAL COMPETITION
3/31/1999 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
MINNESOTA RANKED NO. 19 - The Golden Gophers are ranked No. 19 with a regional qualifying score of 195.0000. 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.
CAVAZOS, KEYSER RANKED - Junior Judy Cavazos (Monterrey, Mexico/Mexicana del Noreste) is ranked on both uneven bars and floor exercise. She is tied for 16th on the bars and tied for 24th on the floor. Senior Cathy Keyser (Plymouth, Minn./Lake Fininndero, Australia) is tied for No. 22 on the balance beam.
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 set twice, March 21 agaisnt Denver and Feb. 27 at Illinois. Cathy Keyser scored Minnesota's top balance beam mark of 9.925 set against Denver. Frosh Megan Beuckens (Brandon, S.D./Brandon Valley) has Minnesota's top floor exercise score of the season, 9.925, set on March 5. Frosh MaryAnne Kelley (Barrington, Ill/Fremd) scored a 39.025 in the all around March 5 for the team's top score of the season.
BIG TEN RECAP - Megan Beuckens tied for second on the floor exercise and tied for fifth on the balance beam to lead Minnesota to fourth place at the Big Ten Gymnastics Championships in East Lansing, Mich. Michigan, which had won six consecutive titles before placing second to Minnesota a year ago, recaptured the team title, scoring 196.300 points. Penn State was second at 195.550, with Ohio State third (194.625) and the Golden Gophers fourth (194.150).
Megan Beuckens finished in a five-way tie for second place on the floor exercise with a score of 9.90, earning All-Big Ten honors. Beuckens also earned honors on the balance beam, where she scored a career-high 9.825 to tie for fifth place. Judy Cavazos and frosh Catie Christensen (Columbus, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) tied for fifth place on the uneven bars with a 9.85, earning All-Big Ten honors.
EVENT RESULTS - Minnesota scored 48.825 points on the uneven bars. Sophomore Megan Skokut (Carmel, Ind./ Carmel) scored a 9.80, which tied for 14th place, and junior Melissa Chang (Blue Springs, Minn./Blue Springs) tied for 19th place with a 9.725.
Cathy Keyser, the defending balance beam champion, performed well during her routine but fell on the dismount, scoring a 9.35. Minnesota also had to count a 9.175 score and recorded 47.80 points on the balance beam.
Minnesota scored 49.15 points on the floor exercise, tying the second-highest score of the season. Megan Beuckens led the way with her second-place finish. Judy Cavazos scored 9.875, which tied for seventh place, and Catie Christensen scored 9.85, good for a tie for 10th place.
The Gophers ended the meet on the vault, scoring 48.375 points. Beuckens led the Gopher scorers with a 9.725, which placed 16th. Junior Kristi Selinger (Aurora, Colo./Gateway) scored 9.70 and Chang 9.675.
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 March 18 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 31-15 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 104-98, 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 29) - 1. Georgia 197.4437 2. Alabama 197.0875 3. Utah 196.8000 4. Michigan 196.7000 5. LSU 196.1562 6. Penn State 196.0375 7. Stanford 195.8687 8. Arizona State 195.7437 9. Nebraska 195.6812 10.Florida 195.6375 11.Ohio State 195.6125 12.Oregon State 195.5312 13.Denver 195.4187 14.Maryland 195.3187 15.UCLA 195.2937 16.Iowa State 195.1875 17.Utah State 195.1312 18.Boise State 195.0750 19.Minnesota 195.0000 20.West Virginia 194.9125 21.Oklahoma 184.8125 22.North Carolina State 194.7250 23.Brigham Young 194.6375 24.Kentucky 194.5937 25.Illinois-Chicago 194.5625 OTHER TEAM RANKINGS (March 30) - Event Rank RQS Vault 21 48.6562 Uneven Bars 15 48.9750 Balance Beam NR Floor Exercise t10 49.1125 INDIVIDUALS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS - Uneven Bars t16 Judy Cavazos 9.9000 Balance Beam t22 Cathy Keyser 9.8750 Floor Exercise t24 Judy Cavazos 9.8875 UP NEXT - The top two team finishers and the all around winner at the regional meet advance to the NCAA Championships, to be held April 22-24 in Salt Lake City.
