University of Minnesota Athletics
WGM: Gophers Head to Iowa for Big Ten Championships
3/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
This Week
Minnesota travels to Iowa for the 2005 Big Ten Championship. The meet will begin at 6 p.m. at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Minnesota in the Big Ten Championships
The Golden Gophers have won four conference championships, with the most recent title coming in 1998. Minnesota also won the Big Ten meet in 1988, 1989, and 1991. Two of the four Big Ten team titles have been won when the conference championship was hosted by Iowa (1989, 1998).
Fifteen Gopher gymnasts have won a total of 30 individual Big Ten titles, led by Marie Roethlisberger who won seven titles in her career. Minnesota’s most recent individual champion was Annie Laatsch, who took first place on the uneven bars at the 2002 Big Ten meet.
Last Time at the Big Ten Meet
Minnesota placed fourth at the Big Ten Championship in 2004. Michigan won the meet, Penn State was second, Iowa came in third, the Gophers were fourth, followed by Michigan State in fifth, Illinois in sixth, and Ohio State in seventh.
Carolyn Yernberg was a top performer for the Gophers at last year’s conference championship, coming in third on the floor with a 9.925, and tying for third on the vault with a 9.900. Yernberg was Minnesota’s top finisher in both events in which she competed.
Former Gophers Alicia Opsahl and Mary Skokut led Minnesota on the bars, each earning a 9.900 to tie for fourth place.
On the beam, Skokut was the Gophers’ best performer, tallying a 9.825 to tie for ninth.
In the all around, Minnesota had two competitors, Alicia Opsahl and Laura Johnson. Opsahl finished fourth, while Johnson was 15th with a 38.225.
Big Ten Experience
All seven of Minnesota’s returning gymnasts competed at the Big Ten meet last season. Here are their results: Gymnast Event Place Score Laura Johnson Vault tie-7th 9.850 Bars tie-9th 9.875 Beam 41st 8.650 Floor tie-13th 9.850 All around 15th 38.225 Stephanie Funk Bars 40th 9.150 Beam tie-27th 9.775 Floor tie-26th 9.800 Carolyn Yernberg Vault tie-3rd 9.900 Floor 3rd 9.925 Kim Womack Bars tie-17th 9.800 Floor tie-26th 9.800 Kelly Ganchan Beam tie-29th 9.750 Kelly Stout Vault tie-37th 9.625 Maria Opsahl Beam tie-31st 9.700
Conference Honors
Gopher senior Carolyn Yernberg was honored as the Co-Big Ten Gymnast of the Week for the week of March 14. She garnered the honor after winning both the vault (9.850) and floor titles (9.875) in the dual meet with Arizona State on March 12. The vault title was her fifth of the season, and the floor title was her sixth of the 2005 campaign. The league’s weekly honor was given to Yernberg for the second time in her career.
Yernberg was also named the Big Ten Gymnast of the Week for the week of Jan. 10. Yernberg won both events in which she competed in the meet against Arkansas. She shared first place with teammate Angela Walker on the vault with a 9.80, and won the floor exercise with a school-record score of 9.975. The Big Ten honor was the first of Yernberg’s career.
National Rankings
Minnesota dropped from No. 19 to No. 22 in this week’s edition of the GymInfo National Rankings. In the event-by-event rankings, Minnesota is No. 15 in the floor exercise and No. 23 on the vault.
Three of the seven Big Ten women’s gymnastics teams are included in this week’s national ranking: Michigan (No. 7), Penn State (No. 11), and Minnesota (No. 22).
Ten of Minnesota’s 2005 opponents are listed in this week’s national ranking.
The national rankings are based on regional qualifying scores, which are calculated by taking the six best regular-season team scores, of which three must be from away meets. The highest of those six scores is dropped, and the remaining five scores are averaged.
Next on the docket
After a weekend off of competition, Minnesota will compete in the NCAA North Central Regional Championship at Utah on April 9.
