University of Minnesota Athletics
Gopher Wrap up Home Season Against West Virginia
3/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
Minnesota hosts West Virginia in its final home competition of the 2007 season. Senior gymnasts Stephanie Funk, Kelly Ganchan, and Kim Womack will be honored at the meet, following the final event.
Live scoring and a live video webcast for the meet will be available on www.gophersports.com. Senior Stephanie Funk will provide audio commentary during the webcast.
Gophers Move up to No. 22
Minnesota moved up three spost this week to No. 22 in the GymInfo National Rankings with an RQS of 194.675. This week’s opponent, West Virginia, is ranked No. 24 with an RQS of 194.600.
Minnesota on a Roll
The Gophers have collected four wins in three weekends, bringing the season record to 7-6.
Carabajal wins Fifth Floor Title
Sophomore Carmelina Carabajal won her fifth floor exercise title of the season with a 9.900 at Utah State. Carabajal has earned three scores of 9.900 on floor this season, and owns four of the team’s top five floor scores.
Carabajal won her first vault title of the season, as well as her first all around title this year. With her win on floor, she is the first Gopher to win three events in a single meet this season.
Gophers Tough on Floor Again
For five straight weeks, the Gophers have scored higher on the floor than the other three events. At Utah State last weekend, the Gophers bettered their season-best mark with a 49.200. Carmelina Carabajal won the event with a 9.900, while Andy Cormelius earned a personal-best 9.875 to finish second. Alexis Russell tied her best floor score with a 9.825.
Gophers Win in all Four Events
Minnesota gymnasts won or tied for first place on every event at Utah State. It’s the first time this season that Minnesota has claimed the tp spot on all four events. On vault, Alexis Russell and Carmelina Carabajal tied for first (9.850). On bars, Angela Walker won with a 9.875. Walker and Ashley Mutchler tied for the top spot on beam with scores of 9.850. Carabajal was the floor winner with a 9.900.
Russell Earns Best All Around Score
Freshman Alexis Russell returned to all around competition at Utah State after sitting out on beam for two weeks. She tallied her personal best all around score with a 39.125, surpassing her previous high score (38.550) by more than half a point.
Walker a Double Winner
Angela Walker scored the team’s best bars score of the season with a 9.875 to take first place against Utah State. Walker also tied for first on beam with a season-best 9.850.
Walker has been the Gophers’ top scorer on bars at five meets this season. She has won two bars titles, vs. Washington and at Utah State. She owns four of the team’s top five bars scores this season.
Miles Matches Personal Best Scores
Junior captain Amanda Miles tied her career-high scores on both beam and floor last weekend. On beam, Miles scored 9.800 to place third. On floor, she tallied a 9.850 to tie for fourth place.
Career-Best for Mutchler
Junior Ashley Mutchler tied with Angela Walker for first place on the beam at last weekend’s meet, earning her career-best beam score of 9.850.
This Week’s Opponent - West Virginia
West Virginia scored a season high 195.275 points to win a quad meet on Senior Day at the WVU Coliseum last Saturday. On vault, junior Jaime Gold had the team high with a 9.85 to claim the individual title. Sophomore Mehgan Morris claimed the bars title with her fourth 9.9 on bars this season. Jana Cox and senior Amie Bouchier took the top two spots on beam with a 9.85 and 9.75, respectively. WVU swept the individual results on floor with Cox, Tynisha Dennis and Morris all scoring 9.85s to tie for the meet’s top score.
The Mountaineers are now 21-8 on the season with an 11-1 EAGL conference mark.
Linda Burdette has been the head coach at WVU since 1975. Joanna Saleem and Jason Butts are assistant coaches.
Last Meeting with West Virginia
The last time Minnesota competed against West Virginia was at the 2002 NCAA Regional Championship, hosted by West Virginia. The Gophers placed second with a 196.050 to advance to the NCAA Championship. West Virginia finished in third place with a 193.825.
The last time West Virginia competed in the Sports Pavilion was at the NCAA Region 2 Championship in 2002. This time, West Virginia finished second (195.475) at the regional. Minnesota finished fourth with a 194.750.
The most recent dual meet between the Gophers and the Mountaineers was at the Sports Pavilion in 1999. Minnesota won 194.375-189.875 on March 12, 1999.
Last Week: at Utah State
The No. 25 Golden Gopher women’s gymnastics team used a season-high team tally on the floor exercise, including a winning mark of 9.90 by Carmelina Carabajal, to capture a 195.800-193.800 victory over Utah State in Logan, Utah.
Carabajal, a sophomore and the reigning Big Ten Gymnast of the Week, added the title in the all-around, recording a career-high score of 39.175. She matched a season-best on the vault with a score of 9.85, along with scores of 9.675 on uneven bars and 9.75 on the balance beam. Carabajal's bars score was a personal best.
Junior Angela Walker was also a double champion, winning titles on the bars and beam. Walker’s score of 9.875 on the bars tied the season-high for the Gophers. Walker scored a 9.850 on the beam, tying teammate Ashley Mutchler for the event title. Mutchler's mark was a personal best.
Freshman Alexis Russell earned a 9.850 on vault to tie with Carabajal for first place. The vault title was Russell's second in two weeks as she also took first on vault against Washington on March 10. Russell's all around score of 39.125 was a personal best and good for second place.
Andy Cornelius also earned a career-best score, with a 9.875 on floor to tie for second place.
In addition to the Gophers' season-best floor score (49.200), Minnesota earned it's best beam score in 2007 with a 49.000 and tied its best vault mark of the season with a 48.900.
The Aggies led after the first two rotations, but the Gophers took control with their performance on the floor exercise. Meanwhile, Utah State struggled on the beam, losing the lead after scoring 47.250. The Gophers iced the victory with their season-best team score of 49.000 on the beam.
Players Mentioned
