University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Big Ten Championships
Players Mentioned
Five Advance to B1G Individual Championships
4/6/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
The No. 2 Gophers will have five representatives in the individual Big Ten Championships tomorrow night.
Minnesota finished fifth in the team competition with an overall score of 405.450. Illinois won the team competition with a 413.900.
"It wasn't quite what we expected," head coach Mike Burns said. "Fifth place is hard to swallow. It's painful, but there's a lot of fuel in that pain. We have to use this to fuel our next stage."
The Gophers' best event was vault, where they posted a 71.900.
INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS FOR DAY TWO
The top ten competitors from each event on day one advance to the individual championships tomorrow night.
Five Gophers are included in that group.
"After a meet like this we need to show up and do what we're capable of doing tomorrow, and get some hardware and some guys up on the podium," Burns said. "I think based on what we talked about as a team, we'll probably see that."
Vitali Kan qualified on two events. He finished second overall on floor with a 14.650, and seventh on pommel horse with a 13.750.
Shane Wiskus qualified for day two on still rings with a career-high 13.950.
Alex Wittenberg moves on in the vault competition after finishing third on with a 14.850.
Tristan Duran qualified on parallel bars and high bar with a 13.850 and a 13.700, respectively. His p-bars performance placed him tied for eighth and his high bar was ninth.
Jalon Stephens finished fourth overall on high bar with a 13.850, so he will also compete tomorrow.
The event will be shown at 6 p.m. CT on the Big Ten Network.
ALL-AROUND
Duran led the Gophers in the all-around competition with a final score of 82.000. That score earned him fifth place in the all-around competition. His best event was vault, where he had a 14.200.
Wiskus had an 80.750 on the day, which put him just behind Duran at sixth place overall.
Herzog was eighth overall in all-around with a 79.300. His best event was also vault, where he had a 14.550.
VAULT
Wittenberg led the Gophers on vault with a personal season-best 14.850. That mark put him at a tie for third place.
Herzog began his all-around day with a 14.550, which was second for Minnesota, and Wiskus was behind him with a 14.450.
The Gophers had a 71.900 on vault, which was improved from their previous meet's score.
PARALLEL BARS
On parallel bars, the Gophers were led by Duran who posted a 13.850. Wiskus followed with a 13.750, and Justin Karstadt came in third for Minnesota with a 13.700.
HIGH BAR
The Gophers picked up momentum on high bar, where all five competitors posted a score above 13. The team compiled a 67.250 event score, which is the highest team score on high bar since Feb. 3.
Stephens led the team with a 13.850, which was the fourth highest mark overall.
Duran was second for Minnesota with a 13.700, and Wiskus was third with a 13.500.
FLOOR
Kan led Minnesota on floor exercise with a 14.650. It was the third-highest score of his career, and a season-best.
"That was my best moment in gymnastics," Kan exclaimed as he made his way back to his teammates upon completion of his routine.
Wiskus had a 14.050 which was second for the Gophers, and Luke Aldrich was close behind with a 13.900.
Duran continued his all-around day by posting a 13.700 on floor.
The team had a 69.950 on floor, which was the third-highest score for them this season.
POMMEL HORSE
Following the bye, the Gophers got back to work on pommel with a 63.400 team score. Kan led the team with a 13.750.
Duran and Karstadt tied for second for Minnesota, each with a 13.150.
STILL RINGS
Wiskus led the Gophers on rings with a career-high 13.950. This put him at fifth overall in the competition.
The Gophers finished rings with a 67.250.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS ON DECK
Following tomorrow's individual competition, the Gophers will head to Chicago, Ill. for the NCAA Championships in two weeks.
The qualifying rounds will be April 20 and the finals will be April 21. It will be the Gophers' third trip to Chicago this season.
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