University of Minnesota Athletics
Gopher Gymnasts to Celebrate Senior Night
3/11/2011 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
This year, Golden Gophers will graduate four extraordinary gymnasts. Yuri Nagai (Maryville, Tenn.), Ana Balboa (Monterrey, Mexico), Kendra Elm (Plymouth, Minn.), and Captain Kristin Furukawa (Pomona, Calif.), will also say goodbye to the Women’s Gymnastics program.
Once they earn their degrees, each girl will embark on a different career path. Yuri, who majored in sport management, wants to continue to use her gymnastics skills. She will put her talents to the test in an audition to be a member of the acclaimed Cirque du Soleil. Ana will travel. She plans to study abroad in Italy for two weeks before her job search begins. Kendra is looking to start medical school in the fall of 2012. Kristin will stay an extra semester to finish her coaching minor and will slowly work her way up the ladder to become a collegiate gymnastics coach after sticking to her roots and staying at Peik to be the team manager for next season.
The end may hold different paths but their beginning was wholly together. They stepped into Peik gym as a unit; the freshman class that would be the future of the Golden Gopher program. Through time spent both on and off the mats, the foursome developed more than just a team atmosphere. They developed a friendship.
Now with the end closing in on them, each gymnast has been looking back on her career and has found there is a lot to be proud of. Yuri Nagai came in as a member of the Japan Junior National Team and competed on uneven bars in every meet, including the NCAA Regionals in which she scored 9.650 for her routine. Sophomore year, she earned a spot to compete on vault, bars, and floor in every meet of the season. She posted her career-high marks on vault (9.825) and bars (9.850) in the meet against Iowa. After sustaining a neck injury her junior year, Yuri rehabbed and missed only two of 14 meets on the season. This season, she has been a solid competitor on bars and vault, earning season high scores of 9.775 on both events. Unfortunately, due to a foot injury, Yuri was sidelined after the UCLA meet on Feb. 27. She ends the season with averages of 9.603 on vault and 9.658 on bars.
Yuri says of her improvement throughout her career, “The greatest improvement over my four years is that I have become a stronger person mentally. By going through all the obstacles that came up to me, I was able to figure out the way to go through them. I feel like I was able to gain more confidence in myself and be a stronger person.”
Ana Balboa was a national and international competitor even before attaching herself to the Gopher roster. She won the all around title at the 2005 Mexican National Championships among other impressive accolades. Freshman year, Ana was in the vault lineup five times and on the balance beam nine times. She quickly became known for her power and strength as she attacked her routines. As a sophomore she competed on beam in every meet and was Minnesota’s top scorer at the end of the season with a 9.825 mark from the Denver meet. She was the only Gopher to not record a fall in 2010 during her junior season. She competed on beam in every meet, earning her personal-best score of 9.825 six times. Ana has been a senior leader on balance beam, competing in every meet and reaching a new career-high on the event at Iowa State on Mar. 4 with a 9.875 score. As of Mar. 7 she is averaging 9.550 on vault, 9.680 on beam, and 9.525 on floor.
When asked for her favorite memories Ana replied, “The first home meet of every season and getting that feeling when I walk into the Pavilion. Also, scoring my career high on beam this year at Iowa State.”
Kendra Elm had also racked up a number to awards prior to becoming a Gopher. She was the Western National Champion on the vault, bars, and in the all around in 2005 and won the all around at the Junior Olympic state meet and at the regional championship that same year. She was named Minnesota's nominee for Big Ten Freshman of the Year after competing on bars in all 14 competitions, and performing on floor in all but the first. Sophomore year, she competed on bars and floor in every meet, and was an all arounder 10 times. She peaked at the end of the season where she earned her then career-best vault score of 9.775 at the Big Ten meet on Mar. 21 and earned the team’s top scorer on bars at the NCAA Regional with a 9.800 on Apr. 4. As a junior, she was an all around competitor in 12 meets and overall was in each event lineup all but once. She tallied career-best scores in vault, bars, and beam throughout the season. Kendra’s senior season has been no less glittered with big scores. As of Mar. 7, she ranks among the Big Ten Conference in the top 20 of every event and ranks as No. 6 in all around competition. She also ranks among the best in the nation, including a No. 22 ranking for all around.
When asked the often complex question of what she will miss most, Kendra had one simple answer. “Being able to see my best friends every day.”
Kristin Furukawa will leave a mark on the program in more ways than one. She has been a consistent leader on bars and beam events and was given the honor of team captain in her junior and senior season. Before coming to Minnesota, she was the state champion at level 10 on the bars and beam as a junior in high school. She went on to win the beam title at the 2006 Junior Olympic Regional Championship, where she also finished fourth on bars and sixth in the all around, qualifying her for the J.O. National Championship, where she was the national runner up on bars. As a freshman, she performed on bars in all 14 meets of the season, winning three titles and achieving the team’s second-highest average with 9.689 on the event. As a sophomore, Kristin had already made a dent in the school’s record books, tying the sixth all-time top performance score for uneven bars. Her bars score counted toward the team score at every meet, winning five event titles. She also set her career-best score in the event at 9.925 against Iowa on Mar. 14. During her junior season, Kristin started to come out as a strong beam competitor. She was Minnesota’s top beam performer in eights meets, including the Big Ten Championship where she was the beam runner up. In her senior season, Kristin has seen the Gopher lineup on bars in every meet and is averaging 9.775 as of Mar. 7. At the Best of Minnesota meet on Feb. 12, Kristin posted a career-best 9.925 on beam, becoming one of only two Gophers to achieve the high mark. As of Mar. 7, Kristin is among the Big Ten Conference rankings as No. 7 on the uneven bars.
Senior year was extra special for the captain. “I am on the most amazing team. There is something special and unique about this team and the way we gel. We just clicked and have great chemistry,” she says. “I am so proud of how strong this team is and even more proud to lead this group of incredible women.”
Each gymnast has left a mark on the gymnasts program. Soon their college careers will come to an end...but not their friendship. These girls have spent the last four years of their lives with each other. Daily practices, team meetings, competitions, and nighttime hangouts. Some have even been roommates. They have been through the good, the bad, and the sometimes ugly. They have succeeded and failed together. They learned lessons and celebrated victories. That kind of bond does not break.
Story written by Kate Wadman
