University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Travel West
2/27/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
Feb. 27, 2015
MINNEAPOLIS - The No. 8 University of Minnesota men's gymnastics team will return to action after a weekend off as they travel to Palo Alto, Calif. to compete in a five team meet featuring the Gophers as well as Stanford and Cal-Berkeley and the national teams from Canada and Japan.
"It will be a great chance to compete on the west coast and have their judges get a chance to see us as well," said head coach Mike Burns. "Getting exposure outside of our region is always a good thing."
The meet is scheduled to begin at6:00 p.m. CT. There will be no live stats or streaming options. Please check the website for a recap following the event.
When they met last...
The last time Minnesota met Cal-Berkeley and Stanford was at the 2014 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships held in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Stanford earned third place overall which marked their eighth top-three finish within the past nine years.
Five gymnasts from Stanford including Akash Modi, Dennis Zaremski, Michael Levy, Brian Knott and Sean Senters were able to qualify for the individual event finals. Modi earned a pair of second place finishes in the all-around competition (89.200) and the parallel bars (15.600) as well as took third on the pommel horse (14.825). Zaremski finished fifth on rings (15.325) and Senters rounded out the top placements by Stanford gymnasts by placing third on vault (15.100).
From Cal, two all-around gymnasts qualified for the individual event finals including senior Kyle Zemeir and Donothan Bailey who finished seventh on the pommel horse (14.650).
Four Gophers advanced to the final day of individual competition including graduated Gophers, Zack Chase on vault and Matt Frey on parallel bars and seniors Steve Jaciuk and Ellis Mannon on the high bar and the pommel horse.
Mannon claimed the 2014 National Championship on pommel horse and become the first Gopher in over a decade to claim a national title for the Maroon and Gold.
Winter Cup Challenge Recap
Last weekend, Mannon traveled to the Winter Cup Challenge held in Las Vegas, Nev. along with 92 other national collegiate, post-collegiate and junior gymnasts in hopes of being named to the U.S. National team. Mannon won the Winter Cup Challenge pommel horse title by putting together his best weekend of competition of the season.
The 15-man U.S. National Senior Team roster had eight spots that were available to be earned at the tournament. Of those spots, seven are now held by collegiate gymnasts including: Akash Modi from Stanford, Donothan Bailey and Kevin Wolting from Cal-Berkeley, Sam Mikulak from Michigan and Alan Bower, Jake Dalton and Steven Legendre from Oklahoma.
Mannon led the competition through two days of preliminary and finals competition earning season-best scores on pommel horse, 15.250 and 15.450, resepectively.
"Ellis has never looked better," said Burns. "He handled pressure like a champion."
Along with the individual pommel horse title, he also competed on the parallel bars in which he tallied a 14.250 and 14.900 which was good enough for fifth place overall.
Iowa/Nebraska Meet Recap
Two weekends ago, the Gophers traveled to Iowa City, Iowa where they met the University of Iowa Hawkeyes and the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The Maroon and Gold claimed second at the tri-team meet with a final score of 433.600 to Iowa's 435.400 and bested Nebraska's 420.250.
The top scores for the Gophers were awarded to Mannon on pommel horse (15.10), junior co-captain Paul Montague Jr. on still rings shared with sophomore Mitchell Soukup (15.050), senior Sean Bauer on vault (14.850) also tying sophomore Zach Liebler on floor (15.00) and senior Steve Jaciuk on parallel bars (15.150) and the high bar (14.900).
Opponent's Results
Prior to the Winter Cup action of this past weekend, the Golden Bears traveled to Washington where they took on the No. 19 Washington Huskies and the No. 17 Arizona State Sun Devils.
The team came out victorious with a final score of 421.300. Along with claiming the meet victory, Golden Bear gymnasts earned the top scores in each individual event as well.Juniors Kyle Zemeir and Kevin Wolting claimed the top two spots in the all-around competition tallying 86.350 and 87.100, respectively.The team earned their second best vault score of the season with a 73.650.
Stanford also met with the Sun Devils in their last team competition in which they recorded a season-best final score of 442.000.Akash Modi earned a new NCAA record on the parallel bars with an impressive 16.150. The parallel bars record was previously held by Michigan's Sam Mikulak (16.100).
On the night, three Cardinal gymnasts earned two event titles apiece. MIchael Levy claimed rings (14.950) and the co-title on floor (15.050) with Sean Senters who also took home the vault title (15.350). Brian Knott earned the pommel horse title (15.450) and high bar (14.950).
Gophers in the National Rankings
Minnesota currently holds eighth place in the national rankings.
The top three sports are held by Oklahoma, Penn State and Illinois, respectively. Six of the Big Ten teams are within the Top 10 nationally.
This weekend's opponents, the Stanford Cardinal and Cal-Berkeley Golden Bears sit at No. 4 and No. 7.
Looking Ahead
Next week, the team will return home to host Big Ten rival, Iowa Hawkeyes in their final home meet of the season. Action is set to begin at7:00 p.m. CTat the Sports Pavilion. The senior class will be honored during the meet.
Follow the Gophers
To follow all of the action of the University of Minnesota men's gymnastics team, follow @GopherMGym on Twitter and Instagram.
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MINNEAPOLIS - The No. 8 University of Minnesota men's gymnastics team will return to action after a weekend off as they travel to Palo Alto, Calif. to compete in a five team meet featuring the Gophers as well as Stanford and Cal-Berkeley and the national teams from Canada and Japan.
"It will be a great chance to compete on the west coast and have their judges get a chance to see us as well," said head coach Mike Burns. "Getting exposure outside of our region is always a good thing."
The meet is scheduled to begin at6:00 p.m. CT. There will be no live stats or streaming options. Please check the website for a recap following the event.
When they met last...
The last time Minnesota met Cal-Berkeley and Stanford was at the 2014 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships held in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Stanford earned third place overall which marked their eighth top-three finish within the past nine years.
Five gymnasts from Stanford including Akash Modi, Dennis Zaremski, Michael Levy, Brian Knott and Sean Senters were able to qualify for the individual event finals. Modi earned a pair of second place finishes in the all-around competition (89.200) and the parallel bars (15.600) as well as took third on the pommel horse (14.825). Zaremski finished fifth on rings (15.325) and Senters rounded out the top placements by Stanford gymnasts by placing third on vault (15.100).
From Cal, two all-around gymnasts qualified for the individual event finals including senior Kyle Zemeir and Donothan Bailey who finished seventh on the pommel horse (14.650).
Four Gophers advanced to the final day of individual competition including graduated Gophers, Zack Chase on vault and Matt Frey on parallel bars and seniors Steve Jaciuk and Ellis Mannon on the high bar and the pommel horse.
Mannon claimed the 2014 National Championship on pommel horse and become the first Gopher in over a decade to claim a national title for the Maroon and Gold.
Winter Cup Challenge Recap
Last weekend, Mannon traveled to the Winter Cup Challenge held in Las Vegas, Nev. along with 92 other national collegiate, post-collegiate and junior gymnasts in hopes of being named to the U.S. National team. Mannon won the Winter Cup Challenge pommel horse title by putting together his best weekend of competition of the season.
The 15-man U.S. National Senior Team roster had eight spots that were available to be earned at the tournament. Of those spots, seven are now held by collegiate gymnasts including: Akash Modi from Stanford, Donothan Bailey and Kevin Wolting from Cal-Berkeley, Sam Mikulak from Michigan and Alan Bower, Jake Dalton and Steven Legendre from Oklahoma.
Mannon led the competition through two days of preliminary and finals competition earning season-best scores on pommel horse, 15.250 and 15.450, resepectively.
"Ellis has never looked better," said Burns. "He handled pressure like a champion."
Along with the individual pommel horse title, he also competed on the parallel bars in which he tallied a 14.250 and 14.900 which was good enough for fifth place overall.
Iowa/Nebraska Meet Recap
Two weekends ago, the Gophers traveled to Iowa City, Iowa where they met the University of Iowa Hawkeyes and the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The Maroon and Gold claimed second at the tri-team meet with a final score of 433.600 to Iowa's 435.400 and bested Nebraska's 420.250.
The top scores for the Gophers were awarded to Mannon on pommel horse (15.10), junior co-captain Paul Montague Jr. on still rings shared with sophomore Mitchell Soukup (15.050), senior Sean Bauer on vault (14.850) also tying sophomore Zach Liebler on floor (15.00) and senior Steve Jaciuk on parallel bars (15.150) and the high bar (14.900).
Opponent's Results
Prior to the Winter Cup action of this past weekend, the Golden Bears traveled to Washington where they took on the No. 19 Washington Huskies and the No. 17 Arizona State Sun Devils.
The team came out victorious with a final score of 421.300. Along with claiming the meet victory, Golden Bear gymnasts earned the top scores in each individual event as well.Juniors Kyle Zemeir and Kevin Wolting claimed the top two spots in the all-around competition tallying 86.350 and 87.100, respectively.The team earned their second best vault score of the season with a 73.650.
Stanford also met with the Sun Devils in their last team competition in which they recorded a season-best final score of 442.000.Akash Modi earned a new NCAA record on the parallel bars with an impressive 16.150. The parallel bars record was previously held by Michigan's Sam Mikulak (16.100).
On the night, three Cardinal gymnasts earned two event titles apiece. MIchael Levy claimed rings (14.950) and the co-title on floor (15.050) with Sean Senters who also took home the vault title (15.350). Brian Knott earned the pommel horse title (15.450) and high bar (14.950).
Gophers in the National Rankings
Minnesota currently holds eighth place in the national rankings.
The top three sports are held by Oklahoma, Penn State and Illinois, respectively. Six of the Big Ten teams are within the Top 10 nationally.
This weekend's opponents, the Stanford Cardinal and Cal-Berkeley Golden Bears sit at No. 4 and No. 7.
Looking Ahead
Next week, the team will return home to host Big Ten rival, Iowa Hawkeyes in their final home meet of the season. Action is set to begin at7:00 p.m. CTat the Sports Pavilion. The senior class will be honored during the meet.
Follow the Gophers
To follow all of the action of the University of Minnesota men's gymnastics team, follow @GopherMGym on Twitter and Instagram.
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Players Mentioned
/ Men's Gymnastics
/ Men's Gymnastics
/ Men's Gymnastics
/ Men's Gymnastics
/ Men's Gymnastics
/ Men's Gymnastics
/ Men's Gymnastics
/ Men's Gymnastics
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