University of Minnesota Athletics
Ski-U-Mah Preview: Lindsay Mable
4/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
The following is an excerpt from "Pursuit of Perfection," a feature story about Lindsay Mable and her journey from barely recruited to one of the most accomplished collegiate gymnasts in the country.
Be sure to check out Rick Moore's entire piece, as well as other great articles about Gopher student-athletes and teams, in the May issue of Ski-U-Mah, which be available online here at GopherSports.com next and in print at Gopher Athletics venues the first week in May.
No one at Minnesota knew exactly how much awesomeness they were getting in Lindsay Mable.
"She came in the summer before her freshman year really excited and open to learn," said Hansen, who was an assistant at the time. "And that was great because she had a few things that she needed to learn to be at the level we thought she would be capable of competing at in the all- around."
According to Hansen, that meant reimagining her vault, learning a new bar dismount, changing her beam dismount and developing a new tumbling pass.
"She upgraded every event when she got here," Hansen said. "It made a huge difference. It made her competitive in the all-around and that year she was Big Ten Freshman of the Year. It was really fun for us to see her reach the level we thought she could get to."
"The rest of the country had no idea who Lindsay Mable was, and that was the really fun part. At the end of her freshman year all the other college coaches were like, `Who is this kid? We didn't know about her.' ... It was fun for us to see her reach the potential we knew she had, and even more fun [to see the reaction of] the schools that didn't give her a chance."
Hansen acknowledges that it's very unusual that an athlete with Mable's innate ability slips past the machinery of modern-day recruiting virtually undetected. It happens so infrequently, she says, because even though you can't know how an athlete will develop, you can see the talent at an early age.
Added Hansen: "I think this is probably the most extreme case."
Players Mentioned
