University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Travel to Iowa State for Friday Meet
3/2/2011 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
Minnesota continues on the road this weekend with a meet at Iowa State on Friday night. The competition will begin at 7 p.m. Live video will be available in the Gold Zone at Gophersports.com.
National Rankings
Minnesota moved up to No. 20 in this week’s edition of the GymInfo National Rankings. Minnesota’s RQS is 195.080. In the event rankings, Minnesota is listed No. 16 on bars, No. 14 on beam and tied for No. 15 on floor.
Friday’s competition should be a close one as this week’s opponent, Iowa State, is ranked No. 19 with an RQS of 195.140. In the event rankings, the Cyclones are No. 12 on bars, No. 19 on beam, and tied with the Gophers for No. 15 on floor.
Explaining the RQS
National rankings are based on Regional Qualifying Scores. A Regional Qualifying Score (or RQS) is calculated by taking a team’s six best scores of the season, of which at least three scores must be from away meets. The highest score is dropped, and the remaining five scores are averaged. The result is an RQS.
Freshman Sensation
It’s early in her career, but Gopher freshman Kayla Slechta has certainly made her mark on the Minnesota women’s gymnastics program. She has been the top scorer for the Gophers on vault at eight of nine competitions this season, and has won vault at six meets. She has scored 9.80 or better in every competition.
Slechta is currently ranked No. 19 in the nation on vault. With her 9.925, she is now tied for No. 4 on Minnesota’s all-time top scores list on vault. She’s the second-highest scoring freshman on vault (Carolyn Yernberg earned a 10.0 on vault as a freshman in 2002).
Slechta has also been a top performer on floor in the four meets she’s been in the line up. She averages 9.794 on floor, and has scored 9.80 or better three times. Against Iowa State, Slechta won floor with a career-best 9.875.
Elm is a Threat on All Four Events
Senior Kendra Elm has competed in the all around seven times this season, and has been the all around champion five times. She earned her best score of 39.225 against Air Force on Jan. 29. In addition to her all around titles, Elm has won event titles on vault, bars and beam this season.
Golich Tops on Floor
Sophomore Shannon Golich has been Minnesota’s top scorer on floor at three meets this season, and won her second floor title Feb. 12 with a 9.85 at the Best of Minnesota Meet. Golich owns the team’s top average score on floor, averaging 9.794 this year.
In addition to her impressive floor performances, Golich has been one of the team’s most consistent competitors on the balance beam. She owns the team’s highest average score on beam (9.786). She is the only gymnast to compete on beam in every meet who has not recorded a fall this season.
Furukawa Leads on Bars
Senior Kristin Furukawa leads the team with the highest average score on bars this season, averaging 9.806. She also owns the team’s top bars score of the year after earning a 9.90 at UCLA on Sunday. Furukawa has scored 9.80 or better at seven of nine meets this season. She has been the team’s top scorer on bars at five meets in 2011 and has placed first on bars at four meets this year.
Russell Back in the Line Up
Freshman Dusti Russell was a top performer for the Gophers in the first two meets this season, but then missed five weeks of competition while recovering from an elbow injury. Last weekend, Russell returned to the line up on beam and floor. She posted scores of 9.85 and 9.775 on beam in last weekend’s competitions, and scored 9.75 and 9.85 on floor.
Cherwink Sees Action
Freshman Justine Cherwink missed the first half of the season recovering from a preseason achilles tendon injury. In the last three meets, she has been an exhibition performer on bars, earning her top score of 9.70 at Cal State Fullerton.
The Big Ten Championship
The Gophers will play host to the 2011 Big Ten Championship. The competition will feaure all seven teams from the league and will start at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 19. Tickets are available and range in price from $5-$8. Call 1-800-U-GOPHER or visit gophersports.com for more information.
Big Ten Strength
The Big Ten conference feeatures six women’s gymnastics teams ranked in the top 20 nationally, more than any other conference. The Big 12 and SEC each have four teams ranked in the top 20.
The Big Ten’s top-20 ranked teams are: No. 9 Michigan, No. 11 Penn State, No. 13 Ohio State, No. 16 Iowa, No. 17 Illinois and No. 20 Minnesota. With so many conference teams clustered together in the rankings, the Big Ten Championship should prove to be a closely contested one.
Last Weekend at Cal State Fullerton
The Gophers won at Cal State Fullerton 195.30-188.725. The score was the best for Minnesota at an away meet this season. Gopher gymnasts won vault, bars and beam, and Minnesota senior Kendra Elm was the all around champion.
The Gophers started out on uneven bars, where the team tallied a 48.875. Sophomore Janell Campbell and senior Kendra Elm were the event winners, each earning a 9.825. Campbell’s score ties her personal best, and Elm’s score is her best this season.
In the second rotation, Minnesota competed on vault, and earned a 48.550. For the seventh time in eight meets, freshman Kayla Slechta was the team’s top scorer on vault. Slechta tallied a 9.875 to win her seventh vault title this season and continue her streak of earning a 9.80 or better on vault in every competition this season.
The Gophers performed on floor in the third rotation and earned a 48.875. Kendra Elm was the top scorer for the Gophers, earning a 9.825 to place second.
Minnesota tallied its best event score in the final rotation, earning a 49.00 on the beam. Sophomore Shannon Golich was the team’s top scorer, earning a personal best 9.90 to win the event. After missing five weeks to an injury, freshman Dusti Russell returned to the beam line up and finished in second place with a 9.85, her personal best score.
Kendra Elm was Minnesota’s only all around competitor, and she won her fifth all around title of the season with a total of 39.175.
Last Weekend at UCLA
The No. 21 Golden Gopher women’s gymnastics team finished second at UCLA, earning a 194.475. Host UCLA, ranked No. 9, won the meet with a 196.650. No. 12 Denver was third with a 193.850.
The Gophers started out on uneven bars, where the team tallied a 49.125, the team’s highest bars score this season and the highest event score at today’s competition. Senior captain Kristin Furukawa was the team’s top scorer, earning her season-high mark with a 9.90. Furukawa was the runner up on bars.
On balance beam, Minnesota managed to compile a 48.10, after having to count a fall. Shannon Golich and Dusti Russell were the top scorers for the Gophers, each earning a 9.775 to tie for fourth place.
Moving to floor exercise, the Gophers earned 49.025. Janell Campbell and Kendra Elm were the top scorers for Minnesota with scores of 9.875 to tie for fourth place. Campbell’s score was her best this season, while Elm earned her career high.
Minnesota finished the competition on vault, where they earned a 48.225. Kayla Slechta was the top scorer for the Gophers, earning a 9.85 to tie for third place.
Kendra Elm tallied a 39.175 in the all around to place third.
Coaching the Gophers
Head coach Meg Stephenson is in her 19th season as a coach with the Golden Gopher program and her 14th as a head coach. Stephenson was a co-head coach with husband Jim from 1998-2009 before taking the helm of the Minnesota program on her own last season.
Stephenson is assisted by Jenny (Alf) Hansen and Louie Johnson. Both Hansen and Johnson are Minnesota alums.
Coming up Next
The Gophers finish up the regular season with a dual against NC State on March 12. The Gophers will celebrate Senior Night by honoring gymnasts Ana Balboa, Kendra Elm, Kristin Furukawa and Yuri Nagai as well as team manager Julie Kinal The competition will begin at 6 p.m.
Gopher Gymnastics on the Internet
All 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. For the final home meet this season, audio commentary will be provided by alums Andy Cornelius and Ashley (Stanton) Grover. Live scoring and a live blog for all home meets will also be available on www.gophersports.com, free of charge.
Players Mentioned
