University of Minnesota Athletics
Gymnasts to take on Denver on Saturday
1/8/2010 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
The Gophers begin the regular season with a home meet against Denver on Saturday, January 9. The meet will start at 6 p.m. at the Sports Pavilion. Both single-meet and season tickets are available through the Gopher athletics ticket office at 1-800-U-GOPHER or www.gophersports.com
Coming up Next Week: Road Trip to Nebraska
The Gophers will compete in their first away meet of the 2010 season on Saturday, Jan. 15 when they travel to Nebraska to face the host Huskers and Illinois. The meet will begin at 7 p.m.
Gopher Gymnastics on the Internet
Five of Minnesota’s regular-season home meets will have a live webcast on the Gophers’ website at www.gophersports.com. Audio and video coverage of each regular-season home meet will be available to Gold Zone subscribers, with audio commentary by Gopher gymnastics alum Carmelina Carabajal. Live scoring for all home meets will also be available on www.gophersports.com, free of charge.
Click on the Gold Zone to find all the live events carried on www.gophersports.com.
Minnesota on the Big Ten Network
Minnesota will appear on the Big Ten Network three times this season. The home meet against Michigan State on Jan. 23 and the meet at Penn State on Jan. 30 will be telecast on a tape-delay basis. The Big Ten Championship will once again be televised live.
Preseason Rankings
Minnesota is ranked No. 22 in the Preseason Coaches’ Poll, the same preseason ranking the Gophers received last season. The Gophers finished the 2009 season with a No. 28 national ranking. The Gophers are one of six Big Ten teams listed in the top 25 in the preseason ranking.
Minnesota has a tough road ahead in 2010, as all but one of the team’s Division I opponents this season are listed among the top 25 in the Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
Big Ten Poll
Minnesota was picked to finish sixth in the Big Ten Coaches’ Preseason Poll. Gymnasts Alexis Russell and Kristin Furukawa were named “Athletes to Watch” by the coaches panel.
Last Meet Recap: Intrasquad Meet
The University of Minnesota held its annual intrasquad meet on Monday, Jan. 4 at the Sports Pavilion, a warm up for the regular season. As a team, Minnesota tallied a score of 191.80.
Ten Gopher gymnasts competed on vault, the most on any event. Alexis Russell and Lucy Ennis tied for first place with scores of 9.60. Freshman Janell Campbell took third place with a score of 9.50. Team captain Kristin Furukawa was fourth with a 9.475, while Kendra Elm rounded out the top five with a 9.40. As a team, the Gophers tallied a 47.575 on vault.
Just seven gymnasts competed on bars, but the team earned its highest event score of the night on the unevenswith a 48.45. Junior Kristin Furukawa was the event winner with a 9.775, while junior Kendra Elm and senior Alexis Russell tied for second with scores of 9.725. Sophomore Lucy Ennis was fourth with a 9.675 while junior Ana Balboa was fifth with a 9.55.
Junior Ana Balboa came out on top of the nine balance beam competitors, winning with a score of 9.65. Junior Kristin Furukawa and senior Alexis Russell tied for second with scores of 9.60. Frosh Janell Campbell was fourth (9.45) while sophomore Briana Jones cane in fifth with a 9.35. As a team, Minnesota accumulated a beam score of 47.65.
There were nine competitors on floor. Senior Alexis Russell was the floor winner with a mark of 9.775. Freshman Janell Campbell finished in second place with a 9.675. Newcomer Amber Hammerschmidt, a sophomore who transferred to Minnesota this season, tied with junior Yuri Nagai to finish in third on floor with scores of 9.625. Sophomore Briana Jones rounded out the top five with a score of 9.425.
Three Gophers competed in the all around , with senior Alexis Russell winning the all around crown. Russell earned a 38.70. Kendra Elm (36.95) and Ana Balboa (36.325) were also all around performers.
Last time vs. Denver
The last meeting between Minnesota and Denver was at the 2009 NCAA Regional Championship. Denver came out on top in that meeting, finishing in fourth place with a 195.60 while Minnesota followed in fifth place with a 193.775.
The last regular-season meeting between Denver and Minnesota was at Denver last January. The Pioneers won the dual meet 194.70-193.525.
Team Captain
Junior Kristin Furukawa has been elected team captain for the 2010 season.
Community Outreach
During the fall training season, the Gophers were busy bringing their sport into the community, hosting two gymnastics clinics at Peik Gym, their training facility. The first clinic, with athletes from Special Olympics, was held on Nov. 14. On Dec. 5, the Gophers hosted Girl Scouts in their second clinic. Members of the gymnastics team led participants through six stations: vault, bars, beam, floor, dance and trampoline.
Coaching the Gophers
Head coach Meg Stephenson is entering her 18th season as a coach with the Golden Gopher program and her 13th as a head coach. Stephenson was a co-head coach with husband Jim from 1998-2009 before taking the helm of the Minnesotaprogram on her own this season.
Stephenson is assisted by Jenny Alf Hansen and Louie Johnson. Both Hansen and Johnson are Minnesota alums.
Players Mentioned
