University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Land Three on All-Big Ten Second Team
3/19/2011 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
Seniors Kendra Elm and Kristin Furukawa, and freshman Kayla Slechta all earned All-Big Ten Second Team honors. All three received conference honors for the first time in their Gopher careers.
Kendra Elm has been an all around competitor for the Gophers this season, and won five all around titles in eight appearances. She owns the team's top four scores in the all around. Elm leads the team in average bars score, averaging 9.785 this season. Elm is currently ranked in the top 25 in the Big Ten on vault (No. 21), bars (No. 16), beam (No. 22), floor (No. 22) and the all around (No. 8).
Kristin Furukawa has been a top performer for the Gophers on bars and beam this season. She has won five bars titles and has scored 9.85 or better on bars five times this season. Furukawa owns the team's top bars score this year with a 9.90 at UCLA (Feb. 27). On beam, Furukawa has a top score of 9.925, which ranks sixth in school history on the all-time top scores list. She has won two beam titles this season.
Kayla Slechta has competed on vault, bars and floor all season, and added beam late in the season. She has the team's top vault score of the season, a 9.925 earned at the Best of Minnesot meet. That vault score places her in a tie for the fourth-best vault score in program history, and makes her the second-highest scoring freshman on vault in team history. Slechta is currently ranked fourth in the Big Ten on vault. She has won vault eight times this season, and has been Minnesota's top vault scorer in 10 of 11 competitions. Slechta has also been a top floor performer, winning one event title. She owns the second-best floor score by a Gopher this season, a 9.875.
Minnesota will compete in the Big Ten Championships tomorrow afternoon. The competition starts at 2 p.m. in the Sports Pavilion. Tickets are still available and range in price from $5-$8.
