University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers to Honor Senior Class
3/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
March 5, 2015
MINNEAPOLIS - The No. 9 University of Minnesota men's gymnastics team will host the Iowa Hawkeyes in their final home meet of the season this weekend. The senior class - Sean Bauer, Donnie Carper, Steve Jaciuk, Ellis Mannon, Jack Metcalf and Spencer Smith - will be honored during the meet for their commitment and dedication to the program over the past four years.
The meet is set to begin at 7:00 p.m. CT and will be streamed live on BTN Plus ($). Fans who can not be in attendance can follow the live scoring or follow @GopherMGym on Twitter for live in-meet updates.
"Senior Night is always an emotional night for not only the seniors but the entire team and the coaches as well," said head coach Mike Burns. "These guys have worked so hard in the four years they have been here and have created so many fond memories during that time and have developed tremendous relationships with their teammates, their coaches, and all the support staff that provide assistance in their quest for excellence."
"Replacing these seniors will be a monumental task as they have all turned into extremely valuable competitors on the competition floor," said Burns. "However, the memories that will last a lifetime are those that are created by having great people like them to work with on a daily basis. It's never easy as a coach to see the seniors leave the program but it's always very satisfying to see them reap the benefits of the hard work they put in in the classroom and the training gym. "
When they last met...
The Gophers traveled to Iowa City, Iowa the week prior to the Winter Cup Challenge to compete against the Hawkeyes and the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
The team bested the Cornhuskers (420.250) with a score of 433.600 and came in second to the Hawkeyes (435.400) by a margin of less than two points.
On the pommel horse, Mannon earned his first event title of the season tallying a 15.200. The second highest score on the apparatus went to junior co-captain Paul Montague Jr. who tallied a 14.500. On the still rings, Montague and freshman Mitchell Soukup both nabbed second place recording a 15.050.
On the vault, Bauer shared the event title tallying a 14.850. Jaciuk impressed on the high bar with a shared title with Iowa's Cory Paterson, both earning a 14.900. On parallel bars, Jaciuk won the event title with a 15.150. Freshman Tristan Duran earned fourth place with a 14.700 on the apparatus.
Sophomore Zach Liebler tied for first with Bauer on the floor to add to a season-high team score of 73.950.
"Our meet this weekend will be a real test as Iowa has defeated us twice thus far," said Burns. "As our seniors prepare for their final home meet I know they will be looking to change that stat."
Stanford Meet Recap
This past weekend marked the first five-up, five-count meet of the season and marked the second highest score of the season thus far for the Gophers.
The Maroon and Gold earned second place overall falling to No.3 Stanford (443.250) and defeating No. 6 Cal-Berkeley (430.200) with a final score of 431.650.
All of the event titles were awarded to gymnasts from Stanford but Mannon was able to fight in to share the pommel horse title.
Bauer and Liebler both tallied 15.000 on floor for the second consecutive week, while the team earned their best score on the night on still rings (74.850) with Metcalf earning a personal best 15.500 on the event.
Freshman Yaroslav Pochinka made his Gopher debut on vault and tallied a 15.150, the highest score on the event that night by a Gopher gymnast.
On the parallel bars, Mannon scored a 14.900 trailed slightly by Jaciuk who notched a 14.700. On the high bar, Jaciuk put up his highest score of the evening with a 15.100.
Opponent's Results
This past weekend, the Iowa Hawkeyes hosted fellow Big Ten conference team, Penn State, in head-to-head competition.
Despite recording their season-high score, the Hawkeyes fell to the Nittany Lions 435.750-440.800.
On the pommel horse, Hawkeye junior Doug Sullivan earned third place with a score of 14.850 with freshman Elijah Parsells in fourth with 14.750.
Juniors Matt Loochtan, Jack Boyle and Lance Alberhasky all earned season-best scores on the floor with 15.350, 15.000 and 14.750, respectively. Boyle also scored a 14.900 season-high on the high bar which earned him first place. The team earned a 71.850 on the apparatus, which was good enough for a new season-high record.
Loochtan claimed the vault title with a 14.950 while sophomore Andrew Botto and senior William Albert tallied a pair of 15.000 on still rings to share third place. On the parallel bars, Cyrus Dobre-Mofid claimed the event title with a career-high mark of 15.250.
Gophers in the National Rankings
Minnesota is currently in ninth place in the national rankings.
The top three spots are held by Oklahoma, Penn State and Stanford, respectively. Six of the Big Ten teams are within the Top 10 nationally.
This weekend's opponents, the Iowa Hawkeyes, are ranked sixth.
Looking Ahead
Next week, the Gophers will travel to Lincoln, Neb. where they will meet Iowa for the second weekend in a row, Nebraska for the third time this season and Penn State for the first time.
The conference quad-meet is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. CT.
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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The meet is set to begin at 7:00 p.m. CT and will be streamed live on BTN Plus ($). Fans who can not be in attendance can follow the live scoring or follow @GopherMGym on Twitter for live in-meet updates.
"Senior Night is always an emotional night for not only the seniors but the entire team and the coaches as well," said head coach Mike Burns. "These guys have worked so hard in the four years they have been here and have created so many fond memories during that time and have developed tremendous relationships with their teammates, their coaches, and all the support staff that provide assistance in their quest for excellence."
"Replacing these seniors will be a monumental task as they have all turned into extremely valuable competitors on the competition floor," said Burns. "However, the memories that will last a lifetime are those that are created by having great people like them to work with on a daily basis. It's never easy as a coach to see the seniors leave the program but it's always very satisfying to see them reap the benefits of the hard work they put in in the classroom and the training gym. "
When they last met...
The Gophers traveled to Iowa City, Iowa the week prior to the Winter Cup Challenge to compete against the Hawkeyes and the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
The team bested the Cornhuskers (420.250) with a score of 433.600 and came in second to the Hawkeyes (435.400) by a margin of less than two points.
On the pommel horse, Mannon earned his first event title of the season tallying a 15.200. The second highest score on the apparatus went to junior co-captain Paul Montague Jr. who tallied a 14.500. On the still rings, Montague and freshman Mitchell Soukup both nabbed second place recording a 15.050.
On the vault, Bauer shared the event title tallying a 14.850. Jaciuk impressed on the high bar with a shared title with Iowa's Cory Paterson, both earning a 14.900. On parallel bars, Jaciuk won the event title with a 15.150. Freshman Tristan Duran earned fourth place with a 14.700 on the apparatus.
Sophomore Zach Liebler tied for first with Bauer on the floor to add to a season-high team score of 73.950.
"Our meet this weekend will be a real test as Iowa has defeated us twice thus far," said Burns. "As our seniors prepare for their final home meet I know they will be looking to change that stat."
Stanford Meet Recap
This past weekend marked the first five-up, five-count meet of the season and marked the second highest score of the season thus far for the Gophers.
The Maroon and Gold earned second place overall falling to No.3 Stanford (443.250) and defeating No. 6 Cal-Berkeley (430.200) with a final score of 431.650.
All of the event titles were awarded to gymnasts from Stanford but Mannon was able to fight in to share the pommel horse title.
Bauer and Liebler both tallied 15.000 on floor for the second consecutive week, while the team earned their best score on the night on still rings (74.850) with Metcalf earning a personal best 15.500 on the event.
Freshman Yaroslav Pochinka made his Gopher debut on vault and tallied a 15.150, the highest score on the event that night by a Gopher gymnast.
On the parallel bars, Mannon scored a 14.900 trailed slightly by Jaciuk who notched a 14.700. On the high bar, Jaciuk put up his highest score of the evening with a 15.100.
Opponent's Results
This past weekend, the Iowa Hawkeyes hosted fellow Big Ten conference team, Penn State, in head-to-head competition.
Despite recording their season-high score, the Hawkeyes fell to the Nittany Lions 435.750-440.800.
On the pommel horse, Hawkeye junior Doug Sullivan earned third place with a score of 14.850 with freshman Elijah Parsells in fourth with 14.750.
Juniors Matt Loochtan, Jack Boyle and Lance Alberhasky all earned season-best scores on the floor with 15.350, 15.000 and 14.750, respectively. Boyle also scored a 14.900 season-high on the high bar which earned him first place. The team earned a 71.850 on the apparatus, which was good enough for a new season-high record.
Loochtan claimed the vault title with a 14.950 while sophomore Andrew Botto and senior William Albert tallied a pair of 15.000 on still rings to share third place. On the parallel bars, Cyrus Dobre-Mofid claimed the event title with a career-high mark of 15.250.
Gophers in the National Rankings
Minnesota is currently in ninth place in the national rankings.
The top three spots are held by Oklahoma, Penn State and Stanford, respectively. Six of the Big Ten teams are within the Top 10 nationally.
This weekend's opponents, the Iowa Hawkeyes, are ranked sixth.
Looking Ahead
Next week, the Gophers will travel to Lincoln, Neb. where they will meet Iowa for the second weekend in a row, Nebraska for the third time this season and Penn State for the first time.
The conference quad-meet is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. CT.
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
/ Men's Gymnastics
/ Men's Gymnastics
/ Men's Gymnastics
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