University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Big Ten Championships
Mable Gymnast of the Year, Gophers Finish 6th
3/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The No. 19 University of Minnesota women's gymnastics team posted a team score of 196.450 to earn a sixth place finish at the 2015 Big Ten Championships hosted by the University of Michigan on Saturday evening in Ann Arbor.
The University of Michigan won its second consecutive Big Ten title after leading the ten team field with an overall score of 197.825. Illinois and Nebraska rounded out the top three finishers.
Junior Lindsay Mable earned two event wins on the evening bringing her season total to 29. The Aurora, Colo. native stood at the top of the podium for the second consecutive year on vault as she tallied a 9.950 on the apparatus. Mable was joined Michigan's Sachi Sugiyama and Talia Chiarelli as the trio tallied a 9.925 on floor exercise to share the event title. The standout junior earned a second place finish in the all-around competition after tallying a 39.625 behind sophomore Nicole Artz who claimed the all-around crown.
Mable was joined by sophomore Rachel Haines on the All-Big Ten Championships Team as the two gymnasts were recognized for their outstanding performances in Saturday's competition. Haines tallied a career-high 9.925 on vault to land in a three-way tie for second place. The season-high for Mable and career-high for Haines on vault helped propel the Gophers early in the competition. Senior Cierra Tomson was awarded with the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award for her outstanding display of school pride and dedication to the sport throughout the season.
Following the second session of competition, Mable was named the 2015 Big Ten Gymnast of the Year. The Colorado Gymnastic Institute alumna has collected 29 individual event titles and 10 all-around crowns this season en route to earning the prestigious conference honor. Mable earned Big Ten Gymnast of the Week laurels six times over the course of the season and was the top-ranked all-around gymnast in the country for two consecutive weeks in February. On Feb. 14, Mable broke her own program-record all-around score by posting a 39.675 against Nebraska in front of a home crowd at the Sports Pavilion. Earlier this week, Mable was named to the First Team All-Big Ten for the third time in her storied career. The award marks the seventh league Gymnast of the Year honor for the Golden Gophers and the first since Gopher great Laura Johnson earned the coveted award in 2006.
The Maroon and Gold began the 2015 Big Ten Championships competition on floor exercise as the Gophers were led by Mable who tallied a 9.925 on the event, earning her first of two event wins on the evening. Tomson scored a 9.875 while freshman Ciara Gardner and sophomore Bailie Holst rounded out the top three Minnesota scores tallying a 9.850 each. The squad combined for an overall team score of 49.325.
Minnesota moved to vault for its second rotation as Mable and Haines earned first and second place finishes respectively to lead the Maroon and Gold to a 49.375, its highest team score of the evening. Senior Jenny Covers and freshman Bailey Gardner added solid contributions of 9.900 and 9.850. Covers finished in fifth place on the apparatus while B. Gardner finished in 19th.
After posting two high team scores before their first bye, mistakes on uneven bars and balance beam plagued the Gophers chances at a league championship. Covers highlighted the top Minnesota scores on the uneven bars as she tallied a 9.900 and earned a fifth place finish overall while Mable contributed a 9.900 to the Gophers' team balance beam score of 49.175.
Minnesota will await its NCAA Regional fate as the regional fields are announced on Monday afternoon. The selection show begins at 2 p.m. CT on NCAA.com.
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