University of Minnesota Athletics
Furukawa and Elm Named Gymnasts to Watch
12/15/2010 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
Michigan enters the 2011 season ranked ninth in the country after earning its fourth consecutive and 18th overall Big Ten title in 2010, closing the season with a 10th-place finish at the NCAA Championships. The Wolverines return eight letterwinners and five All-Americans from last year’s squad.
Minnesota came in fifth in the Big Ten Preseason Poll, and is listed at No. 23 in the preseason national rankings. Last season, Minnesota was picked sixth in the preseason rankings and finished in fourth place at the Big Ten Championship. The Maroon and Gold returns nine letterwinners from the 2010 campaign. The Gophers’ Gymnasts to Watch are seniors Kristin Furukawa and Kendra Elm.
Furukawa, the 2010 and 2011 team captain, competed bars and beam last season. She competed on bars at 14 meets last season, and was Minnesota’s top scorer on bars at three meets. She competed on beam in 12 of 14 meets and tallied four scores of 9.90 or better. Furukawa was Minnesota’s top scorer on beam at eight meets, including the 2010 Big Ten Championship, where she was the runner up on beam.
Elm was an all around competitor at 12 meets last season. She has competed on bars in every meet of her collegiate career, and was the team’s top scorer on bars at three meets in 2010. Elm competed on floor in each meet in 2010, earning her career-high score of 9.85 in the regular-season finale. She vaulted on 13 competitions, and was the team’s top vault competitor at the NCAA Regional. She appeared in the beam line up in 13 of 14 meets last season, earning a career-best 9.85 versus Illinois.
2011 BIG TEN PRESEASON POLL
1. Michigan
2. Illinois
3. Penn State
4. Iowa
5. Minnesota
tie-6. Michigan State
tie-6. Ohio State
2011 PRESEASON BIG TEN WOMEN’S GYMNASTS TO WATCH
Illinois: Allison Buckley, Melissa Fernandez
Iowa: Houry Gebeshian, Rebecca Simbhudas
Michigan: Natalie Beilstein, Kylee Botterman
Michigan State: Kathryn Mahoney, Shanthi Teike
Minnesota: Kendra Elm, Kristin Furukawa
Ohio State: Rebecca Best, Sarah Miller
Penn State: Madison Merrian, Sharaya Musser
The University of Minnesota will play host to the 2011 Big Ten Women’s Gymnastics Championships. The competition will be held at the Sports Pavilion on Saturday, March 19. All seven Big Ten teams will participate, and tickets are available at www.gophersports.com or by calling 1-800-U-Gopher.
Players Mentioned
