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/ Men's Gymnastics
/ Men's Gymnastics
Gophers Ranked No. 4 in CGA Preseason Poll
12/5/2018 5:09:00 PM | Men's Gymnastics
The Gopher men's gymnastics team has received a preseason ranking of No. 4 for the third consecutive season, as announced by the College Gymnastics Association (CGA) Wednesday. All Big Ten men's gymnastics programs will start the season ranked by CGA, claiming the No. 3 through No. 9 spots outright.
"Pretty excited about the 4th place preseason ranking, but as with all preseason rankings, it's based on a lot of things except our performance this season. So we'll take the good feel of a high ranking and work to turn it into a reality," Minnesota head coach Mike Burns said. "That's going to take continued hard work and a concept which I learned from Lou Holtz: 'W.I.N. - What's Important Now.' What's important now is gaining comfort and confidence in the early stages of the upcoming season and building on that base throughout the regular season."
The team is coming off of a prolific 2018 slate, in which Minnesota finished as the national runner-up for the fourth time in program history. The Gophers return All-Americans Justin Karstadt, Vitali Kan and Shaun Herzog for their senior seasons as well as three-time All-American, national All-Around runner-up and Big Ten Gymnast of the Year Shane Wiskus for his sophomore campaign. Minnesota also welcomes nine freshmen to the squad this season.
The annual Alumni Meet will be held at Maturi Pavilion on Jan. 5 before Minnesota begins its regular season on the road at the Rocky Mountain Open on Jan. 12. The Gophers will host four home meets: Jan. 26 vs. Michigan, Feb. 9 vs. Arizona State, March 17 vs. Air Force and March 23 vs. Penn State and Iowa.
Minnesota will get its first look at what the team could be this Saturday, Dec. 8, when the team hosts its annual Maroon and Gold intrasquad meet in Cooke Hall at 1:30 p.m.
"The process begins this weekend with the Maroon and Gold intrasquad," Burns said. "This will be our first chance to see if we deserve a top-four preseason ranking."
"Pretty excited about the 4th place preseason ranking, but as with all preseason rankings, it's based on a lot of things except our performance this season. So we'll take the good feel of a high ranking and work to turn it into a reality," Minnesota head coach Mike Burns said. "That's going to take continued hard work and a concept which I learned from Lou Holtz: 'W.I.N. - What's Important Now.' What's important now is gaining comfort and confidence in the early stages of the upcoming season and building on that base throughout the regular season."
The team is coming off of a prolific 2018 slate, in which Minnesota finished as the national runner-up for the fourth time in program history. The Gophers return All-Americans Justin Karstadt, Vitali Kan and Shaun Herzog for their senior seasons as well as three-time All-American, national All-Around runner-up and Big Ten Gymnast of the Year Shane Wiskus for his sophomore campaign. Minnesota also welcomes nine freshmen to the squad this season.
The annual Alumni Meet will be held at Maturi Pavilion on Jan. 5 before Minnesota begins its regular season on the road at the Rocky Mountain Open on Jan. 12. The Gophers will host four home meets: Jan. 26 vs. Michigan, Feb. 9 vs. Arizona State, March 17 vs. Air Force and March 23 vs. Penn State and Iowa.
Minnesota will get its first look at what the team could be this Saturday, Dec. 8, when the team hosts its annual Maroon and Gold intrasquad meet in Cooke Hall at 1:30 p.m.
"The process begins this weekend with the Maroon and Gold intrasquad," Burns said. "This will be our first chance to see if we deserve a top-four preseason ranking."
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