University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Hit Las Vegas for Winter Cup
2/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
By Jennie Clark
Athletic Communications Assistant
Four members of the Gopher men's gymnastics team will be representing the University of Minnesota this weekend as they head to Las Vegas, Nevada to compete in the Winter Cup. The meet begins Thursday.
Adam Reichow, Andre Berry, Harris Coleman and Aaron Fortunato will all be taking part in the event. The competition this weekend will be a little different than usual, as the Gophers will be competing individually.
"This meet is not a team event," senior Adam Reichow said. "It's all individual. I'm actually going to be competing against my teammates."
These four Gophers will be competing against some of the top athletes in the country, as well. The Winter Cup is a qualifier for the national team.
"The competition is about 120 athletes," head coach Mike Burns said. "They're picking a new U.S. National Team, so they'll be picking 15 guys."
After coming off a strong weekend, Coach Burns feels that his gymnasts are ready to compete at this high level this weekend.
"I feel confident after we had a great meet last weekend," Burns said. "Coming off the high of last week, our confidence is really going to transfer into a great competition for the guys going out to Vegas this weekend."
The turnaround this week is quicker than the gymnasts are used to in normal weeks. The Gophers will start competition on Thursday, rather than on Saturday when most of their competitions are held.
"We have to perform on Thursday which gives us less time to rest our bodies," Reichow said. "I feel a little more banged up than I would going into a Saturday meet. But it's just part of the game, I'm feeling confident and that's really what's important."
All four of the Gophers competing at the Winter Cup this weekend had standout performances last week.
Aaron Fortunato will be competing in all six events this weekend. Fortunato is coming off a strong weekend after posting the second best all-around score in Minnesota's record books.
Andre Berry will be competing in five events - all but the rings. Berry also is coming off of a big weekend tallying a 16.200 on the vault, a season-best for him.
Harris Coleman will also be competing in the same five events as Berry in Las Vegas. Coleman had one of the Gophers' top performances on the pommel horse so far this season with a score of 15.150 in his last outing.
Adam Reichow will be competing on the vault and floor this weekend. Reichow was an All-America performer in both events in 2007.
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Players Mentioned
