University of Minnesota Athletics
Newt Loken
9/6/2007 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
Newt Loken |
Newt Loken was one of the early stars of the Gopher gymnastics program, serving as the team captain under coach Ralph Piper. The Minneapolis West High School grad won the Big Ten Horizontal Bar competition in 1941 and went on to claim the Big Ten All-Around Championship that year. From there, he went on to become Minnesota's first-ever NCAA Gymnastics All-Around champion, claiming the title in 1942. Loken repeated as the Big Ten All-Around Champion the following season as well. In addition to competing on the diving team for the Gophers, Loken was also an All-American cheerleader and captain of the Minnesota cheer squad.
After serving in WWII, Loken later took over as the head men's gymnastics coach at Michigan, where he guided the Wolverines from 1947-83 and posted an outstanding overall record of 250-72-1. In addition, he led the program to a pair of NCAA titles; 12 Big Ten championships; 21 NCAA individual titles and 71 individual Big Ten titles. Loken, who completed his doctorate at Michigan, also coached cheerleading and trampolining at Ann Arbor. In fact, he won a pair of national trampoline titles there and even produced more trampoline champions and world medal winners than any other collegiate coach in history.
The two-time National Coach of the Year earned many other honors during his career, including being inducted into the Michigan Hall of Honor; Michigan Amateur Sports Hall of Fame; and the US Savings-Helms Hall of Fame. Furthermore, several scholarships at the school have been established to honor the contributions of the "Gentleman of Gymnastics."
M Club Hall of Fame
