University of Minnesota Athletics
GYMNASTS END SEASON AT THE NCAA REGION 2 CHAMPIONSHIPS
4/12/1999 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
Of the six regional meets, only the Region 2 Championships had all six teams ranked in the top 25.
Minnesota started the meet on the balance beam. Senior Cathy Keyser (Plymouth, Minn./Lake Fininndero) led the Gophers with a score of 9.75, tying for 10th place, followed by newcomer Catie Christensen (Columbus, Ohio/Buckeye) at 9.7, good for 19th place.
Minnesota scored its highest event total on the floor exercise. Frosh Megan Beuckens (Brandon, S.D./ Brandon Valley) tied for seventh place with a score of 9.85. Christensen was right behind, tying for 11th at 9.825. Junior Kristi Selinger (Aurora, Colo./Gateway) tied her career best at 9.80, placing 15th.
Sophomore Shanyn Lancaster (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Lahser) led Gopher finishers on the vault by scoring a 9.725, placing 20th. Frosh Courtney Norman (Minneapolis, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) tied her personal best with a 9.70, and Selinger scored 9.675.
Christensen scored 9.80 to lead Minnesota on the uneven bars, tying for 17th place. Keyser and sophomore Megan Skokut (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) each scored a 9.775 on bars, tying for 21st place.
Minnesota competed without junior Judy Cavazos (Monterrey, Mexico/Mexicana del Noreste), who dislocated a joint in her right foot during practice a week ago.
Team scores: #1 Georgia 197.375 #10 Florida 195.225 #17 Utah State 194.575 #19 Gophers 194.2 #13 Denver 194.2 #16 Iowa State 194.175 MINNESOTA RANKED NO. 19 - The Golden Gophers are ranked No. 19 nationally 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.
KEYSER RANKED - Senior Cathy Keyser is tied for No. 23 in the nation on the balance beam with a regional qualifying score of 9.8750. Keyser averages 9.712 on the balance beam.
BEUCKENS ENDS HER FIRST SEASON STRONG - Frosh Megan Beuckens tied for seventh place on the floor exercise at the NCAA Region 2 Championships on Saturday. The finish was Minnesota's highest individual place of the meet, as was her score of 9.85.
At the Big Ten Championships, Beuckens tied for second on the floor exercise (9.90) and tied for fifth on the balance beam (career-high 9.825) to lead Minnesota to fourth place. She earned All-Big Ten honors in both events.
FROSH SCORE BIG AT REGION 2 MEET - Of Minnesota's 24 routines at the NCAA Region 2 Championships, 12 were performed by first-year athletes. Megan Beuckens tied for seventh on the floor exercise, Minnesota's highest individual finish. She scored 9.850, Minnesota's highest individual score of the meet. Beuckens competed in the all around for the first time in her career at the Region 2 meet.
Catie Christensen led Minnesota on the uneven bars with a 17th-place finish at 9.80. Christensen was Minnesota's second finisher on the floor exercise, scoring a 9.825. She competed on the balance beam for the first time since Feb. 20, scoring 9.70.
Frosh MaryAnne Kelley (Barrington, Ill./Fremd) competed in all four events at the regional meet. Kelley is Minnesota's only athlete to compete in the all around every meet this season.
Courtney Norman tied her personal best on the vault with a 9.70.
SEVEN RECEIVE ACADEMIC ALL-BIG TEN HONORS - Megan Skokut holds the distinction of being the only Big Ten female athlete competing in a winter sport to hold a perfect 4.0 grade point average.
Other Golden Gopher gymnasts receiving Academic All-Big Ten honors are Judy Cavazos, Melissa Chang, Shanyn Lancaster, Jenny Mazzone, Mariam Pourshoushtari and Kristi Selinger.
GOLDEN GOPHER CO-HEAD COACHES JIM AND MEG STEPHENSON - Co-head coaches Jim and Meg Stephenson finished 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 32-18-1 record as co- head coaches.
Jim Stephenson ended 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 105-93-1, 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
