University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Moves up to No. 5 in National Rankings
3/20/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
March 20, 2012
The men's gymnastics team had been steadily holding on to the No. 6 spot in the nation for the past few weeks. But after posting a new season-high score of 347.9, the Gophers have moved up to No. 5.
Minnesota also kept its No. 2 team ranking on the vault and moved back up to claim the No. 3 spot on the parallel bars. The team is ranked fifth on the still rings as well as the high bar, putting them in the top five on four of the six events.
Nine Gopher gymnasts are ranked in the top 20 on individual events.
The highest ranked Gopher is senior Russell Dabritz who is ranked in the top 20 on three different events. Dabritz held on to his No. 3 ranking on the parallel bars and is also ranked eighth on the still rings and 12th on the high bar.
Joining him in the parallel bars rankings are freshman Steve Jaciuk and Ross Cameratta. Jaciuk is currently ranked ninth and Cameratta is tied for the 15th spot. Jaciuk also moved up seven spots to No. 10 on the high bar.
Minnesota has four athletes in the top 20 on vault. Zack Chase leads the team with a No. 10 ranking. He is followed by DJ Repp at No. 12, Adam LaFleur at No. 17, and Adam Kern at No. 19.
On the floor exercise freshman Kyle Banks kept his No. 18 ranking. Ellis Mannon, another freshman, kept his No. 12 spot in the pommel horse rankings as well.
Lastly, Senior DJ Repp moved up one spot to No. 15 in the all-around standings.
Minnesota will try to build on this momentum at their next meet on Saturday, March 24th against Oklahoma and Ohio State. It is the Gopher's final home meet of the season and will be held at the Sports Pavilion at 7 p.m. CT.
Players Mentioned
