University of Minnesota Athletics
GYMNASTS TAKE ON OKLAHOMA AND IOWA STATE ON THE ROAD
2/13/2001 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
No. 10 Minnesota competes in Ames, Iowa, on Friday, taking on ninth- ranked Iowa State and 17th-ranked Oklahoma.
The National Ranking
Minnesota is ranked No. 10 in the Feb. 12 edition of the GymInfo national ranking, based on season average. It is the first time the Golden Gophers have been listed among the nation's top 10 teams since a ranking of No. 9 on Jan. 15, the first regular-season ranking.
Minnesota is one of six Big Ten Conference schools listed among the nation's top 25 teams. Defending conference champion Michigan leads the way at No. 8, with a 195.446 average. Minnesota and Penn State join the Wolverines in the top 12, as the Gophers are 10th at 194.821 and the Nittany Lions are 12th at 194.779. Other Big Ten schools listed are Ohio State (No. 14), Iowa (No. 19) and Michigan State (No. 24).
Defending NCAA champion UCLA is ranked No. 1 with a season average of 196.811.
Kelley Leads The Big Ten Conference In All Around
Junior MaryAnne Kelley (Barrington, Ill./Fremd) leads the Big Ten rankings in all around, with an average of 39.245. She is also tied for second on floor exercise at 9.883.
Kelley is listed among the top 25 individuals nationally on both lists this week. She is 11th in the all around and tied for 15th on floor exercise.
Gopher Floor Exercise Ranked Seventh
Minnesota is ranked seventh for floor exercise, with an average of 49.112. The Gophers are also listed among the top 25 for balance beam (No. 13, 48.421), vault (No. 17, 48.612) and uneven bars (No. 20, 48.675).
The Last Meet
The Minnesota women's gymnastics team scored 195.525, the highest home score of the season, Saturday at the Best of Minnesota Meet at the Sports Pavilion. That mark is also the eighth-best in team history. Winona State scored 182.675, while Gustavus Adolphus recorded 179.9 and Hamline 177.8. The meet features the four collegiate gymnastics programs in the state of Minnesota.
Kelley Wins Three Events
Junior MaryAnne Kelley, who broke the Minnesota all around record last week at Stanford, placed first with a total of 39.375 in the Best of Minnesota Meet. She recorded her fourth straight floor exercise score of 9.90 and matched her career-best on balance beam with a 9.875. Kelley won the floor exercise for the fourth time this season, the all around for the third time and tied for first on balance beam for her first beam title this season.
Laatsch Records Fourth-Best Bars Mark
Newcomer Annie Laatsch (Lakeville, Minn./Burnsville) won her second uneven bars title of the season, scoring a personal-best 9.90. That score ties the fourth-best in team history. Laatsch is the only Golden Gopher to compete on the bars every meet this season and leads the team with a 9.825 average.
Alf Shines On Beam
Sophomore Jenny Alf (Ripon, Wis./Ripon) tied MaryAnne Kelley for first on the balance beam at the Best of Minnesota Meet with a score of 9.875. The previous two weeks, she scored a career-high 9.90. That mark is the third-best in team history and the team's highest in two years. Alf has recorded at least 9.80 in four of the team's six meets this season. She has a 9.746 average.
Gophers Record Top-10 Vault Score
Minnesota tallied a 48.95 score on vault, the fifth-best in team history and a season-high. Three Golden Gophers recorded at least 9.8, with senior Shanyn Lancaster (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Lahser) winning the event with a season-best 9.85. Junior Courtney Norman (Minneapolis, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) scored a career-best 9.8, and Kelley tied that score.
Beam Sets Season High
For the second straight week, the Golden Gophers scored a season-high on balance beam. Jenny Alf and MaryAnne Kelley each scored 9.875 to win the event and Megan Beuckens was third at 9.750.
High-Scoring Floor Exercise
Minnesota's floor exercise lineup features four gymnasts averaging at least 9.80. Junior MaryAnne Kelley leads the way with a 9.883 average, including scores of 9.90 the last three meets. She is tied for 15th in the latest national rankings on floor exercise.
Sophomore Jenny Alf is next, with a 9.829 average, including scores of at least 9.80 the last five meets. Junior Catie Christensen (Columbus, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) averages 9.8. Junior Courtney Norman has competed on floor the last three weeks, averaging 9.833, including a 9.90 at Stanford.
About Iowa State
The Cyclones are ranked No. 9 in the nation with an average of 194.865. The team is also listed ninth on vault and 10th on balance beam. Iowa State is coming off a season-high score of 196.475 at Missouri. That score is also the third-best in team history.
Junior Shelly Kringen scored 9.925 on vault and 9.95 on floor exercise, leading to a 39.575 in the all around. Junior Sissy Huey scored 39.475 in the all around. She is ranked fifth on uneven bars with a 9.91 average and is the two-time defending Big 12 champion on uneven bars.
Last Year Against Iowa State
Iowa State won both meetings last season, defeating the Gophers 195.850-192.425 in Ames on Feb. 4 and edging the Gophers 196.225- 196.125 in the Sports Pavilion in the final regular-season meet. In the second meet, Megan Beuckens (Brandon, S.D./Brandon Valley) broke the school record in the all around with a total of 39.450, a total that has since been broken by MaryAnne Kelley.
About Oklahoma
Oklahoma is ranked No. 17 with an average of 194.412. The team has a season high of 196.225 but is coming off a season-low 192.6 last weekend at Florida. Leah Mueller has an average of 9.838 on vault, and Patricia Aoki matches that average on floor exercise.
Up Next
Minnesota returns from a meet at Iowa State this weekend to host the Cyclones on Saturday, Feb. 24, at 7 p.m. in the Sports Pavilion.
