University of Minnesota Athletics
GOPHER GYMNASTS TO HOST IOWA
1/23/2001 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
Minnesota returns home from a one-week road trip. The No. 15 Golden Gophers host No. 22 Iowa on Saturday. Minnesota will look to reverse last week's outcome, when Iowa finished ahead of the Golden Gophers in a triangular at Michigan.
The National Ranking
Minnesota is ranked No. 15 in the Jan. 22 edition of the GymInfo national ranking, based on high score. The Golden Gophers have a team high of 194.850 set Jan. 13 against Utah.
Minnesota was the highest-ranked Big Ten school in the first regular-season ranking. This week's opponent, Iowa, is ranked No. 22. Six Big Ten Conference teams are ranked this week. Michigan leads the way at No. 5, followed by Ohio State at No. 7. Other schools ranked are Penn State (No. 16) and Illinois (No. 18).
Defending NCAA champion UCLA is ranked No. 1 with a season-high of 197.500.
Kelley Ranked In Two Individual Lists
Junior MaryAnne Kelley (Barrington, Ill./Fremd) is listed among the top 25 individuals in two lists this week. She is tied for 23rd in the all around with a season-high of 39.200 set Jan. 13. She is also tied for No. 21 in the floor exercise with a season-high of 9.90 set Friday at Michigan.
About the Golden Gophers
No. 9-ranked Minnesota placed third in a triangular meet in Ann Arbor, Mich. on Friday, featuring three of the top 25 teams in the nation. Minnesota, then the top-ranked school in the Big Ten Conference, finished with a score of 193.675. No. 11 Michigan was first with a total of 196.2, while No. 21 Iowa finished second at 194.1.
The Golden Gophers scored a season-high 48.55 on vault, led by sophomore Leigh Dixon's (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif./The Bishop's School) season-high score of 9.825. But Minnesota had to count two falls on the balance beam and recorded a team score of 47.475 on that event, the lowest of the meet.
Dixon was Minnesota's highest finisher of the meet, placing second on the vault.
Junior MaryAnne Kelley, named the Big Ten gymnast of the week after winning the all around last week against Utah, tied for third place on the floor exercise with a total of 9.90. It was Minnesota's highest individual score on any event this season. She finished fourth in the all around with a total of 39.025.
Newcomer Mary Skokut (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) tied for fourth place on the uneven bars with a season-high 9.825. She also led the Golden Gophers on the balance beam, tying for sixth at 9.725.
Minnesota's high score of the season was a 194.850 set Jan. 13 against Utah at the Sports Pavilion.
Beuckens To Return
Junior Megan Beuckens (Brandon, S.D./Brandon Valley) had surgery Dec. 19 to remove a benign cyst and did not compete in the Golden Gophers' first two meets. She competed as an exhibition performer Friday at Michigan and is expected to compete on uneven bars and balance beam Saturday against Iowa.
Beam Beginnings
Minnesota scored a 48.475 on beam Jan. 6 against Ohio State and improved that score to a 48.625 against Utah, with four of the five counting scores at least 9.775. Last season, Minnesota scored higher than 48.625 only four times in 14 meets. But the Gophers had to count two falls on beam Friday at Michigan and scored a meet-low 47.475.
Dixon Leads On Vault
Sophomore Leigh Dixon started the 2001 season where she left off in 2000. Dixon was Minnesota's highest scorer on vault in Minnesota's first meet, placing second with a 9.65. She also led the team in the third meet of the season, placing second with a season-high 9.825, the 10th time in 17 career meets she has scored at least 9.80. Last year, she recorded the team's top vault score in 12 of the team's 14 meets and recorded the top six vault scores of the season. She led the team with a 9.796 average in 2000, including at least a 9.825 in the last seven meets and a career-high 9.90 in the final regular-season meet.
Kelley Named Big Ten Gymnast Of The Week
Junior gymnast MaryAnne Kelley was named the Big Ten Conference Women's Gymnast of the Week for the second time in her career.
Kelley tied for first place in the all around Jan. 13 against No. 4 Utah with a total of 39.200. That total is the sixth-best in team history. Kelley also holds the second-best mark in school history with a 39.375 set last season at the Big Ten Championships.
After missing the bars competition in Minnesota's first meet of the season, she recorded a 9.80 against Utah. Kelley continued to post strong numbers throughout the meet, scoring a 9.85 on the floor exercise for the second straight week and scoring a 9.825 on the balance beam. Kelley hyperextended her left elbow during uneven bars warmups Jan. 6 and did not compete on bars. It was the first time in her 29-meet career she was not an all around competitor.
Kelley received the conference weekly honor last season after winning the all around at Iowa with a 39.175 on Feb. 6.
About Iowa
Iowa is ranked No. 22, increasing its team total every meet to a season-high 194.100 last week. It was the team's highest score in second-year coach Mike Lorenzen's tenure. Four Hawkeyes competed in the all around, with newcomer Alexis Maday winning the title at 39.250, edging out Michigan's Elise Ray, a 2000 Olympic gymnast. First-year gymnast Stephanie Gran also scored high, with a 39.125 to place third.
Series Notes
Iowa's win over the Gophers on Friday was the first since Feb. 26, 1995, when the Gophers placed third in a triangular at Iowa. Oklahoma won the meet at 193.425, while Iowa was at 190.950 and Minnesota 190.800.
The Gophers had defeated the Hawkeyes 14 straight times, including Big Ten Championships.
Last Year Against Iowa
Minnesota defeated Iowa twice in dual meets during the 2000 season. The Golden Gophers won 195.125-193.550 in Iowa City on Feb. 6 and defeated the Hawkeyes 193.450-191.400 Feb. 26 at the Sports Pavilion.
At the 2000 Big Ten Championships in University Park, Pa., Michigan won the meet, with the Golden Gophers third and Iowa seventh.
Up Next
The Golden Gophers are on the road on Friday, Feb. 2, at Stanford. Minnesota returns home to host the Best of Minnesota Meet, featuring Minnesota, Gustavus Adolphus, Hamline and Winona State, on Saturday, Feb. 10.
