University of Minnesota Athletics
Women's Gymnastics Fourth at Big Ten Championships
3/20/2004 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
The Golden Gopher women's gymnastics team earned a fourth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships, scoring a 196.325 in front of 2,401 people at the Sports Pavilion on the University of Minnesota campus. The Michigan Wolverines earned their seventh consecutive conference crown, scoring 197.800 to edge second-place Penn State (196.625). Iowa finished the competition in third place with a score of 196.500, followed by the Gophers, Michigan State (196.025), Illinois (195.400) and Ohio State (194.450).
"We are very proud of our team," Gopher co-head coach Meg Stephenson said. "We had a solid performance tonight. I think we showed what type of team we have, especially in a high-caliber competition like this with scores being so close."
The Gophers began the competition on the balance beam, scoring a 48.850. Senior Mary Skokut earned the Gophers' best score on the beam with a 9.825. Michigan's Elise Ray earned top individual honors on the beam with a 9.950.
Minnesota followed its beam performance with a 49.275 effort on the floor exercise. Junior Carolyn Yernberg paced the Gophers in the event with a third-place, 9.925, while senior Alicia Opsahl scored Minnesota's second-highest score in the event with a 9.90. Iowa's Alexis Maday and Michigan's Elise Ray shared top honors on the floor exercise with scores of 9.950.
Yernberg continued her impressive individual performance at the championships on the vault by recording a 9.90 and earning a third- place tie for individual honors. Iowa's Maday earned her second individual title with a scored of 9.975. As a team, Minnesota scored a 48.950 on the event.
"Carolyn had a great championship," Stephenson said. "She gave us some momentum on a couple of events when we needed it."
Minnesota finished the competition with its second-highest event score of the night, posting a 49.250 on the uneven bars. Opsahl and Skokut ended the night for Minnesota by posting consecutive scores of 9.90, sharing fourth-place honors on the event. Michigan's Ray captured the individual crown on the bars by scoring the first perfect 10.0 of her career on the bars.
