University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Penn State
Gophers Claim B1G Regular-Season Championship
3/12/2016 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The University of Minnesota women's gymnastics team claimed the regular-season Big Ten Women's Gymnastics Championships Saturday afternoon with a perfect 9-0 Big Ten record. The win is the third regular-season title for Minnesota and first since 2014.
The Maroon and Gold tallied a season-high 197.425 at the Big Five Qualifier defeating Penn State (197.125), Michigan (196.875), Iowa (196.650) and Rutgers (194.550).
Senior Hanna Nordquist notched a perfect 10.00 on the Balance Beam to earn the event title. Fellow senior Lindsay Mable tied for first for the Floor Exercise with Alie Glover (Iowa) and Olivia Karas (Michigan) with identical scores of 9.925 and finished second in the All-Around with a final tally of 39.500.
"I think this win gives the team a lot of confidence going into next weekend," said head coach Jenny Hansen. "We have been getting better each and every week and we just want to continue that into our next few meets. We are going to approach next weekend just like we have our past few meets. We do well when we are relaxed and have fun."
The Gophers started out the night on Floor, where Mable earned a 9.925. Junior Bailey Abernathy and sophomore Ciara Gardner notched the second highest scores for Minnesota with a 9.875. They tied for sixth with Riahannah Ali (Rutgers), Brianna Brown (Michigan) and Lindsay Williams (Michigan).
As a team, the Gophers earned an event total of 49.325.
For the second rotation, the team moved to Vault where they earned a team score of 49.200. Abernathy tallied a 9.900 and tied for second with Nikki Youd (Iowa) and Talia Chiarelli (Michigan).
After two rotations, the Maroon and Gold notched 98.525 and were third behind Penn State (98.700) and Michigan (98.550).
On the Uneven Bars, the third rotation of the afternoon, sophomore Abby DeMuse, senior Madeline Hanley, junior Bailie Holst and Mable all earned identical marks of 9.850 to tie for fifth place with Jessica Jones (Penn State), Chanen Raygoza (Penn State), Briannah Tsang (Penn State), Angel Metcalf (Iowa), Olivia Karas (Michigan) and Lindsay Williams (Michigan). As a team, Minnesota notched an event total of 49.225.
In the final rotation, the Maroon and Gold put up impressive numbers all throughout the lineup with five out of six Gophers earning career and season-high marks and Nordquist rounding things out with a perfect 10.000. Junior Kaitlin Rahon earned a 9.850 (career/season-high), Gardner notched a 9.900 (career/season-high), seniors Haines and Hanley earned 9.950s (both career/season-highs) and Mable tallied a 9.875. The team total of 49.675 is a new program record.
"Beam was just incredible," said Hansen. "Everyone was calm and confident heading into the last rotation and performed just like we do in practice. We are thrilled for Hanna. She is incredible on Beam and it's great to see all of her hard work pay off."
"The feeling of that routine was simply amazing," said Nordquist. "All I wanted to do was run back and jump on my teammates and that's exactly what I did! Their love and supports is what made the experience so much better. I couldn't do it without them! Going into the Championships, we will continue what we have been working for all season. Keep up with conditioning, continue to fine tune and nail routines, so that it shows in the post-season too."
"Practice will look very similar to what they have been the last few weeks," said Hansen. "We only have two practices as we leave on Thursday however, they are on spring break so I'm sure they will enjoy a little rest from school."
LOOKING AHEAD
Next weekend, the Maroon and Gold will head to the 2016 Big Ten Women's Gymnastics Championships at the Crisler Center on the campus of the University of Nebraska. BTN will provide live coverage of session one (Noon ET) and session two (5 p.m. ET).
FOLLOW THE GOPHERS
Are you following the Gophers on the road or from home? Make sure to follow @GopherWGym on Twitter and use the team's hashtag #AlwaysGolden. You can also check for updates on Facebook and Instagram by "liking" Minnesota Women's Gymnastics on Facebook or following the Gophers on Instagram.
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