University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers to Travel to Face No. 5 Michigan
2/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
Minnesota (6-3) will face a Big Ten opponent for the first time in the 2008 season when it travels to No. 5 Michigan for a dual meet on Feb. 16. The meet is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. central. Live scoring will be available on the Michigan website at www.mgoblue.com.
The meet at Michigan will be televised on the Big Ten Network on a tape delay basis. The competition will be broadcast on Monday, Feb. 18 at 5:30 p.m. (central).
This is Minnesota’s first of two trips to Michigan this season, as the Wolverines are hosting the Big Ten Championship. The Gophers will return to Ann Arbor for the conference meet on March 29.
Coming Up Next Week: Illinois-Chicago
The Gophers will return home to play host to Illinois-Chicago on Feb. 23. The meet will begin at 6 p.m. at the Sports Pavilion.
National Rankings
Minnesota remained at No. 29 in the GymInfo National Rankings this week. The Gophers are ranked No. 45 on vault, No. 29 on bars, No. 19 on beam, and No. 33 on floor. At this point in the season, rankings are based on average score.
All seven Big Ten teams are ranked among the top 30 this week, with Michigan leading the way at No. 5. Penn State is ranked No. 18, Michigan State is No. 22, Ohio State is No. 23, Illinois is No. 26, Iowa is No. 28, and Minnesota rounds out the conference at No. 29.
Improvement on Bars
The Gophers’ bars score at the Best of Minnesota meet, a 49.050, was the team’s best bars score in over two years. The last time the Gophers had higher than a 49.050 was on Feb. 4, 2006, when the team tallied a 49.175 at New Hampshire.
Previous to the Best of Minnesota meet, the best bars score of the season was a 9.800 by Carmelina Carabajal on Jan. 26. Four gymnasts beat that score last weekend, as Carabajal earned a 9.875, and the freshman trio of Kendra Elm, Kristin Furukawa and Yuri Nagai each scored 9.825.
Winning Ways
Junior Carmelina Carabajal won or tied for first place in three events plus the all around in last weekend’s Best of Minnesota meet. Carabajal tied for first on vault with a 9.825, won the bars title with a career-high 9.875, tied for first on beam with a 9.675, and won the all around with a 39.100. Carabajal has won nine event titles this season, including three on beam, two on vault and bars, and two in the all around.
Leading the Way
Carmelina Carabajal has the team’s top scores of the season in three events as well as the all around. She’s tied with Jamie Bullock for the best vault score (9.825), owns the best bars score (9.875) and beam score (9.875), and leads the way in the all around with a best score of 39.275. In the only event where she doesn’t have the highest score, floor ecercise, she has the team’s third-best score (9.825).
Bullock steps into Bars Line Up
Redshirt freshman Jamie Bullock competed on bars last weekend, marking her first bars performance in over a year. She went first in the line up, and matched her personal-best score with a 9.700. Bullock also had a top performance on vault, setting a career-best mark with a 9.825 to tie with teammate Carmelina Carabajal for first place in the event.
Stanton Strong on Beam
Senior Ashley Stanton has placed among the top three on beam in four of five meets this season. She has led the team on beam at two meets.
Nagai Consistent on Bars
Freshman Yuri Nagai posted a 9.825 on bars at the Best of Minnesota meet, a personal best. Her average bars score for the year is 9.740, and is the best on the team.
Steady Improvement for Furukawa
For the second week in a row, freshman Kristin Furukawa set new career-best marks on both of her events (vault and bars). Furukawa earned a 9.650 on vault, bettering her previous best of 9.625 from a week ago. On bars, she upped her best score to 9.825 from her previous best mark of 9.775 on Feb. 1.
Fans in the Stands
The Best of Minnesota attendance was 2,685, which ties for the eighth-best attendance mark in team history. Last weekend’s attendance is the best since the Gophers attracted a crowd of 2,778 for the Best of Minnesota meet in 2002. Minnesota has ranked among nation's the top 25 in women’s gymnastics attendance in each of the last 10 seasons.
The Opponent: Michigan
The Wolverines are currently ranked No. 5 in the country. In the event rankings, Michigan is listed at No. 3 on vault, No. 2 on bars, No. 7 on beam, and No. 8 on floor. Michigan is the top-ranked team in the Big Ten. Michigan carries a perfect 9-0 record into Saturday’s meet. In their most recent competition, the Wolverines defeated No. 12 Nebraska 196.575-196.075.
Wolverine head coach Bev Plocki is in her 19th season at the helm of the Michigan women’s gymnastics program. She is assisted by Louis Robinson, Jr. and Scott Sherman.
The Last Meeting
The Gophers and Wolverines last met at the 2007 Big Ten Championship, held at Penn State on March 31, 2007. Michigan won the meet (196.575), while the Gophers placed fifth (193.225). In the last regular-season meeting, Michigan placed first (196.025), while the Gophers were second (193.925) at the Ohio State Quadrangular on Jan. 15, 2005.
The Gophers: Breakdown by Event
Vault:Carmelina Carabajal owns three of the team’s top five vault scores this season, and has two event titles to her name this season. Carabajal has been the team’s top performer on vault at every meet this season, and has the team’s best average score on vault with a 9.770. Jamie Bullock notched her personal-best vault score with a 9.825 at the Best of Minnesota, and has two of the team’s top five scores this year. Minnesota’s top vault score is a 48.650, earned in the meet at Utah (2/1).
Bars: Carmelina Carabajal earned the team’s best bars score of the season with a career-best 9.875 at the Best of Minnesota last weekend. Yuri Nagai was inserted into the bars line up in the New Hampshire meet, taking the place of the injured Alexis Russell, and has had great results since entering the line up. Nagai had the team’s best bars score against New Hamphire, a 9.650 to place second overall. She earned a 9.750 against Iowa State and Utah, before setting her personal best with a 9.825 at the Best of Minnesota. Nagai has the team’s best average score on bars with an average of 9.740. Freshmen Kendra Elm and Kristin Furukawa each set career-high marks at the Best of Minnesota with scores of 9.825. Minnesota’s top team score on bars is a 49.050 and came last weekend at the Best of Minnesota (2/9). Four of the team’s top five scores on bars were earned at the Best of Minnesota meet.
Beam: Carmelina Carabajal has the team’s best beam score this year, a 9.875. Carabajal scored her career-best 9.875 against Iowa State on Jan. 26. Carabajal has the team’s best average beam score, a 9.765. Ashley Stanton owns two of the team’s top five scores on beam, with a 9.825 against Utah (2/1), and a 9.800 at the Cancun Classic (1/4). Angela Walker tallied a 9.775 against ISU to place second in the event. Ashley Mutchler has missed the last two weeks of competition, but the coaches are hopeful that she will return to the beam line up at Michigan. As a team, Minnesota’s top team score was a 48.850, scored against Iowa  State (1/26).
Floor: Amanda Miles owns two of the top five scores on floor this season, both marks of 9.850. Miles has an average floor score of 9.800, which leads the team. Carmelina Carabajal has two scores of 9.825 this season. Against Iowa State on Jan. 26, Angela Walker was the team’s top performer with a 9.825, which tied her career-best score. Walker also led the team at the Best of Minnesota meet with a score of 9.800. Minnesota tallied its best team score on floor (48.625) against Iowa State (1/26).
Russell Out With Injury
Sophomore Alexis Russell injured her right knee competing on vault in the meet against New Hampshire. She is probable to return to competition on Feb. 23 vs. Illinois-Chicago.
Coaching the Gophers
Jim and Meg Stephenson are in their 16th season at the helm of the Golden Gopher program. Jim served as the head coach while Meg was an assistant until 1998, when Meg joined Jim as a co-head coach. The duo has a 152-121-1 record as co-head coaches.
Looking Ahead: Gophers to Host NCAA North Central Region Championship
The University of Minnesota has been selected to host the 2008 NCAA North Central Region Championship. The championship will be held at the Sports Pavilion on April 12 at 6 p.m., and will feature six teams from around the country. If the Golden Gophers are selected to compete in a regional championship, they will compete at home in the Sports Pavilion.
Tickets are available and may be ordered online at www.gophersports.com, or by calling the athletics ticket office at 612-624-8080 or toll free at 1-800-U-GOPHER. All seats are reserved.
Two teams from each regional championship will advance to the NCAA National Championship, which will be hosted by the University of Georgia on April 24-26, 2008.
Players Mentioned
