University of Minnesota Athletics
Gopher Gymnasts Bounce Back at UIC
3/1/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
The University of Minnesota men’s gymnastics team rebounded from a rough showing last week to turn in their second-best score of the season Saturday night in Chicago. The Gophers defeated the University of Illinois-Chicago by a tally of 348.450-338.150.
The Golden Gophers held an advantage in all six events during the dual meet at the UIC Physical Education Building. Minnesota’s biggest edge came on the floor exercise. The Gophers, led by Cole Storer’s score of 15.000, held a nearly four-point edge in the event (58.900-55.200).
The Gophers also enjoyed their best performance of the season on the pommel horse Saturday. Minnesota scored a season-high 58.250 total on the apparatus, easily topping their previous best of 57.450. Kit Beikmann had another great performance on the horse. He topped the 15-point plateau for the second consecutive week, posting a career-best 15.400.
Minnesota also turned its best night of the season on the still rings, tallying a score of 57.400. Russell Dabritz turned in a 14.850 performance on the rings to record a season-high score for the Gophers.
All six of Minnesota’s performers on the vault turned in a score of 15.100 or better. The Gophers were paced by Cole Storer’s 15.750. Andre Berry (15.650), Adam Reichow (15.600) and Colin McGuire (15.450) turned in the other three scores to account for a total of 62.450.
The Gophers’ struggled just a bit on the parallel bars and high bars. Aaron Fortunato led the way on the parallel bars with a 14.100. McGuire was Minnesota’s top performer on the high bar at 14.550.
The Gophers took the top five scores of the night on the floor exercise. Minnesota accounted for the top four positions on the vault and the top three on the parallel bars.
The Gophers return home next Saturday to host two of the top teams in the nation. Oklahoma and Stanford, which were ranked Nos. 2 and 3 in the nation this past week, will invade the Sports Pavilion at 7 p.m. The meet will be televised on a tape-delayed basis by the Big Ten Network.
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