University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Have Newfound Confidence
1/28/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
Gophers back home with new confidence...
The University of Minnesota men's gymnastics team is heading into its second consecutive home meet this weekend feeling confident.
Senior Aaron Fortunato, who took first in the all around competition this past weekend, was awarded Big Ten Gymnast of the week this past week.
"We haven't had a Big Ten Gymnast of the Week since March of 2007," head coach Mike Burns said. "Aaron did a great job. He won the all around in the meet this past weekend. It's really neat to see him get that kind of recognition."
The Gophers head into Saturday's meet against Nebraska, Air Force and Calgary with a newfound confidence. Last week, Minnesota finished in first place in its home opener. More importantly, the Gophers improved in nearly every event.
"Last week felt good for all of us," senior Colin McGuire said. "Pommel hourse was a little bit rough. But everywhere else, we had some awesome scores. We're stepping up and doing some good gymnastics."
Coach Burns is also feels the confidence of his gymnasts is on the rise.
"I think our confidence levels are improving quite a bit," Burns said. "It shows in our hit percentage, which improved by 25 percent last week. Now we need to improve another 25 percent this weekend. I feel good about being able to do that."
Minnesota has been struggling with a number of injuries to some key athletes. Fortunately, many of them seem to be getting back into the swing of things.
"The guys are getting healthier right now," Burns said. "DJ Repp probably won't be in the lineup this week. But we're looking to put Thomas O'Brien in the still rings lineup this weekend. We're excited to get him back in action."
Cole Storer, another injured Gopher, will hopefully be making his first appearance of the season at the Illinois meet in two weeks.
McGuire, who competed on the floor, pommel horse, vault and bar last weekend, also feels good coming into this meet.
"We feel confident," McGuire said. "Last weekend was a boost, compared to the weekend before. We had a lot more hit sets and we just have a new confidence about ourselves."
Minnesota competes at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Sports Pavilion.
Notes:
Olympians Abound
Saturday's meet will feature four Olympians. Three of the coaches in this weekend's meet are former Olympic competitors, while Calgary boasts a former Olympian on its roster of gymnasts.
Kip Simons, head coach at the Air force Academy, was on the 1996 United States Olympic team that competed in Atlanta. Air Force assistant coach Brett McClure was on the 2004 Olympic team that took the Silver Medal in Athens.
Nebraska assistant coach Jim Hartung was on the 1984 U.S. Olympic team which won a gold medal in Los Angeles.
Calgary athlete Nathan Gafuik was on the Canadian Olympic team in Beijing in 2008.
"A star-studded cast of Olympians will be on hand this weekend," Burns said. "It's exciting for us and for our sport to have that many guys who represented their countries in the Olympic Games at the Sports Pavilion Saturday."
This Week's Opponents
Nebraska and Air Force both opened their seasons Jan. 16 at the Rocky Mountain Invitational, hosted by the Air Force Academy. The Huskers finished second at the meet, trailing only Oklahoma. Meanwhile, Air Force was third in the five-team meet. Calgary is a club team at the University of Calgary. The Dinosaurs competed at Minnesota last season, taking second in a four-way meet with the Gophers, Washington and Arizona State.
National Rankings
Minnesota comes into this meet ranked No. 8 in the nation. The Gophers were No. 8 in the Preseason Coaches Poll, but slipped to No. 10 after struggling a bit in the season-opening Windy City Invitational. Nebraska comes into today's meet with a No. 10 national ranking, while Air Force is currently No. 14. The Gophers' highest rank on an individual event is No. 2 on the high bar. Minnesota's most highly-ranked individual gymnast is Aaron Fortunato, who comes into this weeks' meet with a No. 4 ranking on the high bar. Nebraska's top event is the vault, where the Huskers come in at No. 4. Air Force is best on the pommel horse, with a No. 9 national rank in that event.
A Long Time Coming
Before last week, it had been nearly three years since a Minnesota gymnast earned a Big Ten Gymnast of the Week award. But Aaron Fortunato changed that Monday, when he picked up his first career Big Ten Gymnast of the Week award. It was the first for the Gophers since Jake Lee was honored back on March 28, 2007.
Fortunato tallied three first-place finishes, including the all-around title, in No. 10 Minnesota's victory against Washington and Arizona State last week. The senior won the all-around title with a score of 85.000 and scored event wins on high bar (15.050) and pommel horse (13.950). He finished third in the floor exercise (14.500), fourth on still rings (13.700), fifth on vault (15.100) and seventh on parallel bars (12.700).
Oh, Captain! My Captain!
Seniors Aaron Fortunato, Colin McGuire and Thomas O'Brien are the Gophers' captains for the 2010 season. Fortunato was last year's Most Valuable Gymnast for the Gophers last season, as voted on by his teammates and the coaching staff. O'Brien was named one of two Most Improved Gymnasts on the team after last season. All three of the team captains were honored by the team for academic excellence last season. Each of the three have grade-point averages of better than 3.0.
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Players Mentioned
