University of Minnesota Athletics
Local Talent Makes Impact on Gophers' Roster
5/20/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
Growing up watching his sister compete in gymnastics, University of Minnesota men's gymnast, Ryan Bergman, thought that everyone did gymnastics just like everyone goes to school.
"Naturally, I asked my mom, 'when do I start?'"
A native of Lakeville, Minn., a southern suburb of the Twin Cities, just a half hour down the freeway, Bergman grew up attending the Gophers' meets with his club teammates.
"I always knew that Minnesota was the school for me," he stated.
"I really like having local Minnesota talent on the team," said head coach Mike Burns. "These guys grew up singing the Rouser, wanting to be a Gopher and knowing how special it is here at the University of Minnesota."
A product out of Classic Gymnastics, Bergman was one of ten incoming freshmen last season. Through adjusting to competing at a collegiate level and handling all the stress that comes with being a freshman, he attributes close teammate relationships and the coaching staff for a smooth transition.
"Being a U of M gymnast means that I have a close group of brothers that will always be there for me," said Bergman. "I think that is the best part of being on this team. The coaching staff is also great. They all know what they're doing and they know how to get everybody on board for a certain goal or idea. Russ [Fystrom] is never shy to share his wisdom. One of his sayings that got me through competition was, 'inhale confidence, exhale doubt.'"
Doubt was something that the men's gymnastics team had no time to deal with this year.
Last season, the team's dream of advancing to the second day of the NCAA Championships was cut short by two tenths of a point.
The day one goal coming into the 2016 season was to not only make it to the second day of the NCAA Championships, but to also make 2016 a standout season - and that, they did.
The Gophers had their best team finish at the Championships in nine years, finishing sixth overall.
At the Big Ten Championships, the Maroon and Gold finished third, with eight gymnasts qualifying for ten event finals, Bergman as one of them on the Parallel Bars.
"Ryan stepped up in a big way this year at the Big Tens, posting his career high (15.250), qualifying for event finals and finishing fourth overall on the P Bars," said Burns.
For nailing his performance, he was awarded the team's most outstanding Big Ten Competitor Award.
"Hitting that routine at Big Tens was the greatest feeling in the world," Bergman explained. "To work so hard on something and have it pay off in the right moment made the experience pretty memorable for me. It's a good feeling to know that I contributed to something that is bigger than me. We had plenty of great Big Ten performances and to be part of that was awesome."
Last season, Bergman competed in four regular-season meets and made a lot of strides to continue to improve to become a P Bars specialist.
"P Bars feels so natural to me," he explained. "Competing for me is just like playing around with extra pressure."
For his junior campaign, Bergman has his sights set on expanding from being a one event specialist to adding some more difficulty in his training with some new events.
"Hopefully, I'll add Pommel Horse and High Bar if my body can handle it," he said. "I also am going to set my goals a little higher for P Bars."
"Ryan is committed to excellence and continues to make improvements on a daily basis," said Burns. "This summer, we'll work on increasing his difficulty level while maintaining his mastery of execution."
