Gophers Places Fifth at Big Ten Men's Gymnastics Championships

Senior Mitchell Mays earned the top score of the night on vault to lead the eighth-ranked Golden Gophers to a fifth place finish at the 2008 Big Ten Men’s Gymnastics Team Championships Friday night at Rec Hall in University Park, Pa.

The championship featured six of the nation’s top-10 men’s gymnastics squads, including No. 3 Penn State, which lead for the final four rotations of the meet and captured the team title with 360.450 points. Fifth-ranked Illinois finished second with 357.300 points, followed by No. 7 Ohio State with 354.350 points and No. 6 Michigan with 353.000 points.

Minnesota came within five one-hundredths (0.050) of its season-high team score, totaling 351.400 points, and stood in fourth place heading into the sixth and final rotation but was unable to hold off the Wolverines.

Tenth-ranked Iowa rounded out the team scoring in sixth place with 344.500 points.

“We came in ranked fifth in the Big Ten and finished in fifth place, so the outcome is not completely suprising,” said Burns.  “I was relatively pleased with the final (team) score and our hit percentage but we certainly could have performed better in some areas. Our dismount landings were not that solid tonight, but we definitely had some strong performances.”

Minnesota opened the championship on floor exercise and recorded a team score of 58.650 points to finish the first rotation in third place. Sophomore Cole Storer posted his third-best score of the season, totaling 15.100 to place 10th overall. He was the only Gopher to place in the top 15. Sophomore Colin McGuire tied for 20th with a score of 14.650, while classmate Adam Reichow placed 24th with a score of 14.600.

The Gophers moved to the pommel horse next and despite recording their second-best score of the season with 56.150 points slipped to fifth. Junior Kit Beikman once again paced Minnesota with a score of 14.700 to take fourth place. Sophomore Andre Berry also finished in the top 15, blowing away his previous season best with a rousing routine that earned a score of 14.250 from the judges.

Three Gophers recorded scores of 14.500 or better as Minnesota executed a number of solid routines on rings during the third rotation. The Maroon and Gold registered their second best team total of the season with 57.850 points but were unable to advance in the standings. Mays tied for 13th with a score of 14.000, while Edward Campbell and Sergei Dmitriev each earned scores of 14.500.

Minnesota had high hopes for its vault lineup and the squad delivered, scoring a season-high 64.150 points to jump back into medal contention in third place through four rotations.

Mays, the nation’s top-ranked gymnast on vault, once again delivered an awe-inspiring performance to earn a score of 16.600 from the judges. Sophomore Andre Berry, who tied for fourth, turned in his best vault of the year for a 16.000, while sophomore Adam Reichow placed 11th with a score of 15.800. Sophomore Aaron Fortunato also shined, totaling in a season-high score of 15.750 to tie for 13th.

The Gophers totaled their second-best score of the season on parallel bars during the fifth rotation but were unable to maintain the position in the standings after recording 58.100 points. Senior Sergei Dmitriev earned a 14.900 to tie for fifth and Fortunato placed 16th with a score of 14.500 to lead the way.

McGuire and Storer each turned in quality routines and tied for fifth place with scores of 14.200 to lead Minnesota on high bar and the Gophers also got a strong performance from senior Steve Vuong, who tied for 11th, but it wasn’t enough to hold on to fourth place. Minnesota totaled 56.250 points on the apparatus for its second-best outing of the year to finish the competition with 351.450 points for the championship.

Fortunato posted his second-highest all-around score of the season and finished with 85.350 points to take seventh in the all-around competition. Penn State’s Casey Sandy totaled 91.500 points to win the all-around.

Six Gophers advanced to compete in Saturday’s individual event finals, which will pit the top-nine gymnasts in each event from Friday’s team competition. Beikmann, the defending Big Ten pommel horse champion, advanced and will attempt to defend his title. Mays and Berry will compete for the vault title, while senior Dmitriev advanced on parallel bars. McGuire and Storer will battle for the conference’s high bar title.

“We look forward to the event finals and putting our best foot forward tomorrow night,” said Burns. We will get a chance to see some of the best gymnastics in the country in the event finals. Mitchell Mays continued his winning ways on the vault tonight with a meet high score of 16.600. He continues to amaze me with this vault of his. Hopefully he will perform it well enough tomorrow to bring home a Big Ten title.”

Competition in the individual event finals gets underway on Saturday night at 6 p.m. (CDT). Day two of the championship will be televised live on the Big Ten Network.

2008 Big Ten Men’s Gymnastics Championships
Rec Hall
University Park, Pa.
Host: Penn State

FINAL TEAM SCORES
1. Penn State, 360.450; 2. Illinois, 357.500; 3. Ohio State, 354.350; 4. Michigan, 353.000; 5. MINNESOTA, 351.450; 6. Iowa, 344.500.

Upcoming Events