University of Minnesota Athletics
Carabajal to Compete at NCAA Championship
4/22/2008 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
CATCH THE ACTION: Live coverage of the championship, including interviews and highlights, is available on Georgia’s website at www.georgiadogs.com.
The 2008 NCAA Gymnastics Championships will be broadcast by CBS on a tape delay basis. The broadcast is set to air Saturday, May 10 from 2-4:00 p.m. (central). The CBS talent will be Tim Brando and Amanda Borden.
WHO QUALIFIED: Twelve teams qualified for the national championship by placing among the top two at their respective regional championships. The 12 participating teams are Georgia, Florida, LSU, Stanford, Utah, Alabama, Oregon State, Michigan, UCLA, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Denver.
In addition to the 12 teams, 12 individual all around gymnasts and two event specialists have qualified to compete at the national championship. Each individual competitor is assigned to rotate with one of the participating teams. Minnesota’s Carabajal will rotate with Florida.
CARABAJAL’S ROTATION AT NATIONALS: Carabajal and the University of Florida will have a bye in the first rotation, and will move to bars in the second rotation. Carabajal will compete on beam in the third rotation, have a a second bye in the fourth. In the final two rotations, she will compete on floor and vault. NATIONAL RANKINGS: The top 12 spots are still up for grabs at the NCAA Championship, but final rankings for the teams not competing at nationals has been determined. The Gophers will finish the 2008 season with a No. 16 national ranking. Minnesota’s final ranking of No. 16 is the fourth-best in school history.
MINNESOTA’S HISTORY IN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP: The Gophers have advanced to the NCAA Championship as a team in two seasons, 1997 and 2002. Minnesota has sent individual qualifiers to the NCAA meet 10 times, meaning the Gophers have been represented in 12 of of the 25 NCAA Championships.
The last time Minnesota had an individual qualifier at the NCAA Championship was in 2006 when Laura Johnson represented the Gophers at the national meet. Johnson was also a national qualifier in 2005. Johnson and Carabajal both came to Minnesota out of the Albuquerque School of Gymnastics.
GOPHERS’ REGIONAL SCORE ONE OF THE BEST Minnesota earned its third-best NCAA Regional Championship score with a 195.275 at the 2008 North Central Regional. The Gophers have earned a regional score of 195.0 or better just four times in school history. Minnesota’s best regional score was a 196.050 in 2002. The team earned a 195.800 in 2001, and tallied a 195.125 in 1997. The Gophers advanced to the NCAA Championship in two of the four seasons in which they earned a 195.0 or better at the regional meet.
LEADING THE WAY: Carmelina Carabajal owns or is tied for the team’s top score in three of four events plus the all around this season. She is tied with Kristin Furukawa for the best bars score (9.875), owns the top beam score (9.925), and owns the top floor score (9.875). She also leads the way in the all around with a best score of 39.300, which she’s accomplished twice this year.
Carabajal has the team’s best average score on all four events: 9.775 on vault, 9.741 on bars, 9.785 on beam, 9.809 on floor, and 39.110 in the all around.
CARABAJAL IN THE ALL AROUND: Carabajal has competed in the all around in all 14 meets of the 2008 season, and was an all around competitor in eight meets in 2007. She is the only team member who has competed ini the all around at every meet in the current season. Carabajal has scored a 39.0 or better in 10 of 14 competitions this season, including two scores of 39.300, her personal best. Her all around marks of 39.300 put her in fifth place on Minnesota’s all-time top performers list, tied with former Gopher Judy Cavazos.
ONE FOR THE HISTORY BOOK:Carmelina Carabajal’s score of 9.925 on beam against UIC (Feb. 23) was the best individual score in by a Gopher gymnast in any event in more than three years. The last time a Minnesota gymnast scored 9.925 or better was on Jan. 8, 2005, when Carolyn Yernberg earned a 9.975 on floor.
WINNING WAYS: Seven Gopher gymnasts have won event titles this season, earning a total of 29 titles between them. Minnesota has the most event titles on beam with eight. The Gophers have also claimed seven titles on bars, five titles on floor, four in vault, and four in the all around.
Carabajal has the most titles this season, winning 19 event titles so far, including six on beam, four on vault, three on bars, two on floor, and four in the all around. Kristin Furukawa has three event titles this season, all coming on bars. Angela Walker has two event titles to her name this season, with both of her titles coming on floor. Ashley Stanton has two balance beam titles this season. Amanda Miles has won one floor title, Jamie Bullock has one vault title, Yuri Nagai has one bars win.
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 161-132-1 record as co-head coaches.
Players Mentioned
