University of Minnesota Athletics
Two Gophers Earn All-Big Ten Accolades
4/5/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
Senior Kit Beikmann and freshman Russell Dabritz earned Second-Team All-Big Ten honors Saturday night at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich. Beikmann and Dabritz were two of five University of Minnesota gymnasts taking part in the individual event finals of the Big Ten Championships at the University of Michigan.
Beikmann took second place on the pommel horse, giving him his second consecutive placement on the All-Big Ten Second Team. He has now won or placed second on the pommel horse for three consecutive seasons. Beikmann scored a 14.700 on the horse, while Illinois’ Luke Stannard took the Big Ten pommel horse title with a 15.275.
Dabritz earned his All-Big Ten accolades by virtue of a second-place finish on the parallel bars. The Gopher freshman was the second-to-last athlete to compete and posted a score that put him in first place with one competitor remaining. Unfortunately, that one competitor was Illinois’ Paul Ruggeri, who topped Dabritz’s score of 15.050 with a 15.100 to take the Big Ten title.
Another Gopher freshman turned in a solid routine on the vault. D.J. Repp took fifth place with a 15.800. Cole Storer was seventh on the vault, turning in a score of 15.600. Geoff Reins of Iowa took the vault with a 16.125. Storer also competed on the floor exercise, taking sixth place with a score of 14.725. Illinois’ Ruggeri won the floor with a 15.625.
Aaron Fortunato finished sixth on the high bar for the Gophers. He turned in a score of 14.200, while Joe Catrambone of Michigan won the conference championship with a 15.075.
“I was really pleased with the performances tonight,” Minnesota head coach Mike Burns said. “We hit 100 percent of our routines in the finals, which was really nice to see. We almost had two individual event champions. It was a good way to finish the Big Ten Championships and head into preparations for the national meet.”
The 2009 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships will be held April 16-18 at the Sports Pavilion on the University of Minnesota campus. Tickets are available now by calling 1.800.UGOPHER or online at www.GopherSports.com.
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