University of Minnesota Athletics
Saturday, February 23
Toledo, Ohio
6:30 PM
University of Minnesota
196.700
vs
197.750
Michigan
Players Mentioned
/ Gymnastics
/ Gymnastics
/ Gymnastics
/ Gymnastics
/ Gymnastics
/ Gymnastics
/ Gymnastics
/ Gymnastics
/ Gymnastics
/ Gymnastics
Photo by: Brad Rempel
Minnesota Claims Second at Big Five Meet
2/23/2019 11:09:00 PM | Gymnastics
The Minnesota women's gymnastics team took second place at the Saturday session of the Big Five meet hosted by Elevate the Stage at the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio with a final team score of 196.700. Tonight's Big Five meet saw the Golden Gophers competing against gymnasts from Michigan, Ohio State, Illinois and Rutgers, with the Wolverines claiming first place with their overall score of 197.750.Â
This is the first year that the Big Five competition has been held in Toledo. The raised podium and arena set up of the Huntington Center added to the energy of the meet, mimicking the atmosphere of post-season competition.
"It was an incredible competition site," said head coach Jenny Hansen. "You know, It felt like a championship, and they had a great crowd. It was a really fun environment, and I really enjoyed this venue."
Michigan was named the Big Ten Regular Season Champions after their performance tonight, while the No. 14 Gophers finished second in the Big Ten during the regular season and now boast a conference record of 8-1 (12-3 overall).
"Michigan was fantastic tonight," explained Hansen. "It would have been really tough for us to beat them even if we were totally on, and we were a little bit off tonight. Overall, I'm really pleased with the team because we are getting better in different areas. Now we just have to keep putting it together."
Minnesota was seeded second heading into tonight's meet and therefore had a bye during the first rotation. The team then rotated through the events in the order of floor exercise, vault, uneven bars and balance balance. The Gophers recorded team event scores of 49.000 or higher on all four apparatuses, posting a meet-high score of 49.375 on the uneven bars. The team's 49.275 performance on vault was their best performance on the event so far this season.
"Vault was really good for us tonight," said Hansen. "I was really excited to see that. Bars was another strong night, but beam and floor struggled a little bit. So we have to get back in the gym and put a little more effort and emphasis on the little things--the landings and confidence on beam."
Four different Gophers earned new career-high scores tonight and a fifth set a new-season high. Lexy Ramler took third in the all-around competition with her score of 39.450, third on vault (9.900), and third on beam (9.900). Ivy Lu claimed third place on the uneven bars after scoring a 9.925 as well as third on beam with her 9.900-earning routine. Paige Williams finished third on floor with her score of 9.900, and Ona Loper took second place on vault after the judges awarded her a 9.925.
Vault
Loper posted a new career-high score on vault as her Yurchenko one and a half earned a 9.925 from the judges. Ramler scored a 9.900 for the same vault. Kristen Quaglia's 9.875 was a new career-high score for the junior from Chanhassen, Minn. Williams added a score of 9.825 and Lexi Montgomery notched a season-high 9.750 to help the Gophers to a team event score of 49.275, their highest team vault score so far in 2019.Â
Bars
Lu put up the highest score on uneven bars for Minnesota after scoring a 9.925 for her routine. Three different Gophers gymnasts scored a 9.875 on the uneven bars, as Loper, Ramler and Hannah Willmarth all hit the same mark. Willmarth's 9.875 set a new career-high score on the event. Tiarre Sales rounded out the lineup and recorded a score of 9.825 to bring the team to an event score of 49.375, their highest of the meet.Â
Beam
Ramler and Lu both notched scores of 9.900 to record the highest scores for the Gophers on balance beam. Sales' 9.875 matched her career-high score and was the third-best score for Minnesota on the event. Mary Korlin-Downs posted a 9.750 and Abbie Nylin added a 9.575 to finish off the rotation and give the Maroon and Gold a team beam score of 49.000.
Floor
Williams led Minnesota on floor as she posted a strong score of 9.900 to anchor the rotation. Loper put up the second-highest score for the Gophers as she earned a 9.825 for her routine. Nylin, Sonier and Ramler all earned matching 9.775s on floor exercise to bring the team to an event score of 49.050.
The Gophers will return to Maturi Pavilion on Saturday, Mar. 2 at 4:00 p.m. CT Â to compete in their final home-meet of the season against Pittsburgh.Â
Â
This is the first year that the Big Five competition has been held in Toledo. The raised podium and arena set up of the Huntington Center added to the energy of the meet, mimicking the atmosphere of post-season competition.
"It was an incredible competition site," said head coach Jenny Hansen. "You know, It felt like a championship, and they had a great crowd. It was a really fun environment, and I really enjoyed this venue."
Michigan was named the Big Ten Regular Season Champions after their performance tonight, while the No. 14 Gophers finished second in the Big Ten during the regular season and now boast a conference record of 8-1 (12-3 overall).
"Michigan was fantastic tonight," explained Hansen. "It would have been really tough for us to beat them even if we were totally on, and we were a little bit off tonight. Overall, I'm really pleased with the team because we are getting better in different areas. Now we just have to keep putting it together."
Minnesota was seeded second heading into tonight's meet and therefore had a bye during the first rotation. The team then rotated through the events in the order of floor exercise, vault, uneven bars and balance balance. The Gophers recorded team event scores of 49.000 or higher on all four apparatuses, posting a meet-high score of 49.375 on the uneven bars. The team's 49.275 performance on vault was their best performance on the event so far this season.
"Vault was really good for us tonight," said Hansen. "I was really excited to see that. Bars was another strong night, but beam and floor struggled a little bit. So we have to get back in the gym and put a little more effort and emphasis on the little things--the landings and confidence on beam."
Four different Gophers earned new career-high scores tonight and a fifth set a new-season high. Lexy Ramler took third in the all-around competition with her score of 39.450, third on vault (9.900), and third on beam (9.900). Ivy Lu claimed third place on the uneven bars after scoring a 9.925 as well as third on beam with her 9.900-earning routine. Paige Williams finished third on floor with her score of 9.900, and Ona Loper took second place on vault after the judges awarded her a 9.925.
Vault
Loper posted a new career-high score on vault as her Yurchenko one and a half earned a 9.925 from the judges. Ramler scored a 9.900 for the same vault. Kristen Quaglia's 9.875 was a new career-high score for the junior from Chanhassen, Minn. Williams added a score of 9.825 and Lexi Montgomery notched a season-high 9.750 to help the Gophers to a team event score of 49.275, their highest team vault score so far in 2019.Â
Bars
Lu put up the highest score on uneven bars for Minnesota after scoring a 9.925 for her routine. Three different Gophers gymnasts scored a 9.875 on the uneven bars, as Loper, Ramler and Hannah Willmarth all hit the same mark. Willmarth's 9.875 set a new career-high score on the event. Tiarre Sales rounded out the lineup and recorded a score of 9.825 to bring the team to an event score of 49.375, their highest of the meet.Â
Beam
Ramler and Lu both notched scores of 9.900 to record the highest scores for the Gophers on balance beam. Sales' 9.875 matched her career-high score and was the third-best score for Minnesota on the event. Mary Korlin-Downs posted a 9.750 and Abbie Nylin added a 9.575 to finish off the rotation and give the Maroon and Gold a team beam score of 49.000.
Floor
Williams led Minnesota on floor as she posted a strong score of 9.900 to anchor the rotation. Loper put up the second-highest score for the Gophers as she earned a 9.825 for her routine. Nylin, Sonier and Ramler all earned matching 9.775s on floor exercise to bring the team to an event score of 49.050.
The Gophers will return to Maturi Pavilion on Saturday, Mar. 2 at 4:00 p.m. CT Â to compete in their final home-meet of the season against Pittsburgh.Â
Â
Level Up - Team Bonding
Thursday, November 06
Signing the Block M
Tuesday, May 20
Mya Hooten: NCAA Floor Final
Friday, April 18
Mya Hooten Previews NCAA Championships
Monday, April 14