University of Minnesota Athletics
Gopher Men's Gymnasts Advance To NCAA Team Finals
4/13/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
The University of Minnesota men’s gymnastics team placed third in the second session of the NCAA Championships to advance to tomorrow’s team final, which consists of the top three teams from Session I and Session II.
Minnesota scored a 216.900 to place third overall in Session II behind first-place Penn State (218.900) and second-place Oklahoma (218.600), who also advanced to tomorrow’s final. California (216.550) took fourth, Nebraska (209.100) placed fifth and Temple (205.400) was sixth in the session.
Minnesota, Penn State and Oklahoma will join Stanford, Illinois and Michigan, the top three teams from the day’s first session. Stanford won Session I with a score of 216.350, while Illinois took second (216.300), Michigan was third (215.350), Ohio State was fourth (215.250), Iowa was fifth (209.500) and Army finished sixth (194.800).
Senior Jake Lee did his part to help the Gophers advance to the team finals as he posted a season-best 54.450 in the all-around to finish first in the session. Lee also placed among the top five in the session in parallel bars by taking second with a season-high score of 9.400 and placing fourth on high bar with a mark of 9.250. Lee also tied for sixth on pommel horse with another season high tally of 8.750.
“I felt very confident and comfortable today and it was great to be able to finish first in the all-around for the session and to have the team advance,” said Lee. “I expect us to bring the same intensity and attitude tomorrow and hopefully we can improve on what we did today.”
Freshman Andre Berry was just off Lee’s pace and gave the Gophers two all-arounders in the top five as he placed fourth with a career-high score of 52.750. Berry set himself up for a solid finish in the all-around by winning vault with another career-best score of 9.400.
Freshman Cole Storer earned another first-place finish for Minnesota by winning floor exercise with a career-best score of 9.650. Storer would also take ninth on vault (8.900) and place 14th on high bar (8.900). Junior Sergei Dmitriev also excelled during the second session, placing second overall on high bar with a career-best 9.350 and seventh on parallel bars with a 9.200.
Freshman played a key role in the Gophers successful Thursday as Aaron Fortunato had a top-10 showing by scoring a 9.100 on high bar to take ninth. Freshman Adam Reichow took third on floor exercise with a 9.500 and was seventh on vault with a career-high score of 8.950. Sophomore Kit Beikmann followed his impressive performance at the Big Ten Championships by taking eighth on pommel horse with an 8.700. Junior Mitchell Mays rounded out the Gophers top 10 performances by placing 10th on still rings with a 9.450.
Gopher head coach Mike Burns said the realization of the hard work paying off on the first day of the NCAA Championships was one of his greatest thrills.
“You have to tip your cap to our guys for all the time and effort and energy they put into getting to this point,” said Burns. “They worked their tails off and now they will get a chance to compete as one of the top six teams remaining. These guys never quit, never got down and always seemed to answer the bell at the most critical of times. I could not be more proud of what this team has accomplished and hopefully tomorrow will be just as gratifying.”
The top three teams and the top three all-around competitors from each session not on one of the qualifying teams, plus the top three individuals on each event not already qualified on a team or as an all-around competitor, will advance to the finals session, which will be held tomorrow and Saturday, April 13-14.
POST-SESSION II QUOTES
Head coach Mike Burns
Well this is a great moment for Minnesota gymnastics. I think it has been 17 years since this program has been in the team finals in the NCAA Championship. It is a great day indeed. I am really proud of my team. They never gave up from the beginning to the end. We had a few mishaps along the way. And our team has been like this every meet this year. One guy has a little mishap and the next guy picks up the slack. It has been a great effort all year long for these guys, and I couldn’t be happier for them.
What does this mean to your program?
MB: It is huge for us. Like I said earlier, it has been a long time since we have been here. It has been a long, strong tradition of gymnastics at Minnesota. This 2007 team will be right at the top of the list. It solidifies our program and it gives us a lot of recognition. Our program will be battling for the top spot.
Did the Ohio State elimination open your eyes?
MB: Ohio State’s demise really did nothing for us. It wasn’t really a factor at all for us. We had our job to do. I am sorry they didn’t make it, but that is not really our problem. We just did our job.”
Jacob Lee
All I can say is wow. I couldn’t be more proud of my team. This was one of our goals from the beginning of the season, to make NCAAs, and we did it. We peaked at the right time and I am just so proud of everyone on my team.
Players Mentioned
