University of Minnesota Athletics
No. 25 Gophers to Host North Carolina on Friday
3/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
The Gophers return home to host North Carolina on Friday, March 7 at 6 p.m. The meet is Minnesota’s only home meet this season on a Friday evening. Live scoring for the meet will be available for free on www.gophersports.com. A live webcast will also be available to Gold Zone subscribers.
Coming Up Next Week: at West Virginia
The Gophers will travel to West Virginia for a quad meet on March 15. Along with West Virginia, Minnesota will also compete against New Hampshire and Rutgers.
National Rankings
Minnesota moved up two spots to No. 25 in the GymInfo National Rankings this week with an RQS of 194.315. The Gophers are ranked No. 41 on vault, No. 20 on bars, No. 19 on beam, and No. 33 on floor. This week’s opponent, North Carolina, is ranked No. 27.
Explaining the Regional Qualifying Score
Starting this week, teams are ranked by Regional Qualifying Score (RQS). A team’s RQS is calculated by taking the top six scores of the season, of which at least three must be from away meets. Of those six scores, the top one is dropped and the remaining five scores are averaged. The result is an RQS. The NCAA uses Regional Qualifying Scores to determine which 36 teams qualify for an NCAA Regional Championship. The top 18 teams are seeded into the six regional competition sites, with three of the top 18 going to each site. The next three highest-ranked teams in each region fill out each regional field.
Leading the Way
Carmelina Carabajal owns or is tied for the team’s top score in all four events plus the all around this season. She’s tied with Jamie Bullock for the best vault score (9.825), is tied with Kristin Furukawa for the best bars score (9.875), owns the top beam score (9.925), and is tied with Amanda Miles for the top floor score (9.850). She also leads the way in the all around with a best score of 39.300. Carabajal has the team’s best average score on all four events: 9.756 on vault, 9.727 on bars, 9.811 on beam, and 9.794 on floor. In the national rankings, Carabajal is ranked No. 19 in the nation in the all around with an RQS of 39.165. She’s also listed at No. 16 on beam, is tied for No. 56 on floor, and is No. 80 on bars, and No. 84 on vault.
Winning Ways
Six Gopher gymnasts have won event titles this season, earning a total of 23 titles. Minnesota has the most event titles on beam with six. The Gophers have also claimed five titles on floor, four on floor, four on bars, and four in the all around.
Carabajal has the most titles this season, winning 16 event titles so far, including five on beam, four on vault, two on bars bars, one on floor, and four in the all around. Angela Walker and Kristin Furukawa each have two event titles to their name this season, with both of Walkers titles coming on floor, and both of Furukawa’s titles coming on the uneven bars. Amanda Miles has won one floor titles, Jamie Bullock has claimed one vault title, and Ashley Stanton has one balance beam title this season.
One of the Best on Beam
Minnesota tallied a 49.225 on beam, the team’s best beam score since earning a 49.500 at Arizona State on March 12, 2004. The score of 49.225 ranks No. 3 on the program’s all-time top scores list. Contributing individal scores were Carmelina Carabajal (9.900), Amanda Miles (9.850), Ashley Stanton (9.850), Angela Walker (9.850) and Ashley Mutchler (9.775). Miles’ score was her career-best, while Mutchler’s score was her best of the season.
Stanton Strong on Beam
Senior Ashley Stanton has placed among the top three on beam in seven meets this season, including wins in two meets. She has led the team on beam at three meets. Against Illinois-Chicago (2/23), she matched her career-best beam score with a 9.900 to place second in the event. In the GymInfo National Rankings this week, Stanton is ranked No. 35 on beam with an RQS of 9.820.
Freshmen Bolster Bars Line up
Minnesota regularly competes with three freshman in the bars line up, and the results have been impressive this season. The Gophers tallied a 49.075 on bars against Illinois-Chicago, the best bars score since the 2006 season. The Gophers also scored a 49.075 on Feb. 4, 2006 at New Hampshire. While the Gophers never scored over 49 on bars last season, they have surpassed the 49 mark twice so far this season.
Freshman Yuri Nagai posted a 9.825 on bars at the Best of Minnesota meet, a personal best. She followed up with scores of 9.800 at Michigan (2/15) and against Illinois-Chicago (2/23).
Kristin Furukawa has competed on bars at all seven meets this year, and tallied her best score (9.875) against UIC (2/23). She is tied with Carmelina Carabajal for the team’s top bars score this year. At Iowa last Friday, Furukawa tallied a 9.850 to win her second event title.
Kendra Elm was the Gophers’ top performer on bars at the season opener in Cancun. She has earned scores of 9.800 or better twice, including her best mark of 9.825 at the Best of Minnesota Meet (2/9).
The Gophers: Breakdown by Event
Vault: Carmelina Carabajal owns four of the team’s top five vault scores this season, and has four event titles to her name this season. Carabajal has been the team’s top performer on vault at seven competitions this season, and has the team’s best average score on vault with a 9.756. Jamie Bullock notched her personal-best vault score with a 9.825 at the Best of Minnesota (2/9). At Michigan (2/16), Jade Beattie was the Gophers’ top performer on vault. Beattie was also the team leader on vault at Iowa, earning a personal-best 9.800. Minnesota’s top vault score is a 48.775, earned in the meet at Iowa State (3/2).
Bars: Freshman Kristin Furukawa was the winner on bars against Illinois-Chicago (2/23) with a 9.875, and was also the event winner at Iowa (2/29) with a 9.850. Furukawa is now tied with Carmelina Carabajal for the team’s top bars score this season. Carabajal earned her career-best 9.875 at the Best of Minnesota (2/9). Carabajal has the team’s best average score with a 9.727 average. 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 in the second meet of the season. Nagai had the team’s best bars score against New Hampshire, a 9.650 to place second overall. Nagai set her personal best with a 9.825 at the Best of Minnesota (2/9). Minnesota’s top team score on bars is a 49.075 and came in the dual meet with Illinois-Chicago (2/23).
Beam: Carmelina Carabajal owns the team’s top beam score this year, a 9.925 earned against UIC last Saturday. Carabajal has the team’s best average beam score, a 9.811. Carabajal tallied a 9.900at Iowa State (3/2) and a 9.875 at home against Iowa State (1/26), giving her three of the team’s top five scores of the year. Ashley Stanton also owns two of the team’s top five scores on beam, with her best score (9.900) coming in the meet against UIC (2/23). Stanton also notched an event-winning 9.875 at Michigan (2/16). As a team, Minnesota’s top team score is a 49.225, scored against Iowa State (3/2). Angela Walker matched her career-high score on beam with a 9.875 against UIC (2/23). Minnesota’s highest event ranking is the team’s No. 19 national ranking on beam.
Floor: Amanda Miles owns two of the top five scores on floor this season, both marks of 9.850. Carmelina Carabajal matched Miles’ score when she earned a 9.850 against Illinois-Chicago (2/23) and again at Iowa State (3/2). Carabajal has an average floor score of 9.794 to lead the team. Alexis Russell matched her career-high floor score of 9.825 against UIC (2/23). Against Iowa State on Jan. 26, Angela Walker was the team’s top performer with a 9.825, which tied her career-best score. Minnesota tallied its best team score on floor (48.625) against Iowa State (1/26).
Players Mentioned
