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Minnesota Dominates Big Ten Postseason Honors
5/14/2020 4:00:00 PM | Gymnastics
After the sudden end to the season, the Big Ten has announced their All-Big Ten Teams and Individual awards this afternoon.
"Our staff is so proud of the incredible achievements of our team this past year. Both in the classroom, with 15 Academic All-Big Ten selections, and on the competition floor," head coach Jenny Hansen said. "This season was incredible from start to finish and several athletes really stood out and led the way for our team this year. Not only did they shine individually, but they were incredibly consistent and pushed the team to new heights."
For the second season in a row, and the fourth time in program history, the Gophers had five gymnasts earn All-Big Ten honors. Ona Loper, Ivy Lu, Lexy Ramler and Tiarre Sales all earned first team honors, while Maddie Quarles made the second team. Minnesota and Michigan tied for the most gymnasts honored by the conference. Mary Korlin-Downs earns the Sportsmanship award for Minnesota for the first time in her career.
Ramler and Hansen repeated at the conference's Gymnast and Coach of the Year.
Big Ten Gymnast of the Year
Things seem to come in pairs for Ramler. Back-to-back perfect 10s, two-time Region 2 Gymnast of the year, two-time B1G Gymnast of the Week during 2020, and now she is the repeating Big Ten Gymnast of the Year.
"Lexy enjoyed another tremendous year, picking up right where she left off last year," said Hansen. "In addition she set career highs on vault, bars and balance beam, highlighted by back to back perfect 10's. We are incredibly proud of all she accomplished but also in how she grew as a person and as a leader."
This season was bound to be Ramler's best one yet after she reached perfection for the first time with a perfect 10 on beam in January. A week after her first perfect 10, she did it again, becoming the first Gopher gymnast to reach perfection in Maturi Pavilion and have multiple perfect 10s in one season.
"I'm beyond honored to receive this award," Ramler said. "It always means so much to be able to represent my home state. Each year at Minnesota has been one to remember and we had so much momentum this year. I'm thankful for all of my teammates and coaches supporting me and pushing me everyday, and even more grateful for this opportunity here at Minnesota. I look forward to one more year with an incredible team, heart warming fans, and wearing the M."
Big Ten Coach of the Year
After coaching her team to one of their best seasons yet, Hansen has been named the Big Ten Coach of the Year for the second straight season. This is the third Big Ten Coach of the Year honor for Hansen. A Minnesota gymnastics alumna, Hansen has spent the majority of her coaching career at Minnesota.
"I'm extremely honored to be selected as the Big Ten Coach of the Year," said the repeat winner. "I'm proud to be among the incredible coaches within the Big Ten and I'm humbled by this honor. We enjoyed a record breaking year as a team and I'm so proud of them. I'm thankful for our entire coaching staff, as I truly believe we have one of the best coaching staffs in the country."
With her guidance, the 2020 team found success, both in the classroom and the gym. The team led all winter programs at Minnesota and Big Ten gymnastics teams with 15 Academic-All-Big Ten selections. On the floor, the team reached new heights, putting up numerous top-10 all-time performances on vault, bars, beam and with team scores, virtually rewriting the record book.
For the first time in program history, Minnesota was ranked No. 1 nationally on beam for two weeks when they set a school record, scoring a 49.700 as a team at the Rutgers quad meet.
The Gophers finished the shortened season ranked No. 10 overall, No. 16 on vault, No. 8 on bars, No. 4 on beam and No. 19 on floor in the nation. They hit 197+ three times this season, notching the second-highest team score in program history with a 197.625 against NC State. The Maroon and Gold finished the 2020 season with a NQS of 197.410, accomplishing one of many team goals set.
Big Ten Sportsmanship Award
Korlin-Downs caps off a spectacular senior season as Minnesota's Sportsmanship honoree. In the final gymnastics meet of her career, Korlin-Downs recorded a career-high 9.925 at NC State. A staple in the beam lineup, the redshirt senior battled through multiple injuries and competed in almost every meet of her career at Minnesota.
"Mary has been an incredible leader for our team during her career, and has gone above and beyond in so many ways for our team this past year," said Hansen. "She was incredibly passionate and motivating day in and day out. We wouldn't have enjoyed our level of success without her."
All-Big Ten Teams
Ramler and Lu are named First Team All-Big Ten for the third time of their career, while Loper earns her second First Team honor. After being named to the second team as a freshman, Sales secured a spot on the First Team after an outstanding sophomore campaign. Quarles burst onto the gymnastics scene during her first season at Minnesota, earning Second Team honors.
Ramler finished the season ranked No. 1 on beam in the nation (9.975 NQS), No. 6 on bars nationally and No. 1 in the B1G (9.935 NQS), No. 8 in the all-around in the NCAA and No.1 in the conference (39.545 NQS) and No. 8 on vault in the Big Ten (9.875 NQS). This honor comes after she repeated as the Region 2 Gymnast of the Year, earned First Team All-American Honors (UB, BB, AA) and was named a Honda Sports Award Finalist for gymnastics.
After recently being named Minnesota's Big Ten Medal of Honor recipient, Lu closes out her collegiate career as a three-time All-Big Ten First Team selection. Lu is a nine-time Big Ten Event Specialist of the Week, earning that honor twice during the 2020 season. The senior earned a pair of event titles, one on each of her events. The Montreal, Quebec native ended the season ranked No. 22 nationally and No. 2 in the Big Ten on bars (9.895 NQS), and N0. 19 nationally and No. 4 in the conference on beam (9.905 NQS).
Loper had a season of a lifetime, earning her first Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honor back in February. She ended the season with a bang, being the last gymnast to earn the conference honor after a stellar performance against NC State. The year of firsts continued when she earned the first of three all-around titles of her career in the second meet of the season. She went on to win one title on the uneven bars and four on vault and floor.
During the final meet of junior season, she notched her first perfect 10 on vault and set a career-best 39.625 in the all-around, to tie for ninth all-time in program history. Loper ended the season ranked No. 18 nationally and No. 4 in the conference on vault (9.890 NQS), No. 12 nationally and No. 3 in the B1G in the all-around (39.495 NQS) and No. 4 in the conference on floor (9.900 NQS). The Bluffton, S.C. native spent four weeks at No. 1 in the all-around in the Big Ten and was ranked as high as No. 9 in the nation.
Sales set career-highs on floor (9.850), bars (9.900), beam (9.975) and in the all-around (39.375) throughout the season. The sophomore made her debut on floor against Ohio State with a 9.775. The following week against Iowa, she competed in the all-around for the first time ever in front of the home crowd with a score of 39.300. She was named the Big Ten Event Specialist of the Week once this season and earned her first career title on the uneven bars. She closed out the season ranked No. 7 on beam (9.895 NQS) and No. 9 on the uneven bars (9.865 NQS) in the conference.
In her first official collegiate gymnastics season, Quarles has earned second team honors for her performance. Spending most of her time as the anchor of the vault lineup, Quarles excelled on the event, posting a 9.800 or higher in eight out of the nine meets this season. In the final meet of the season, the redshirt freshman notched a career-high 9.925. She won two vault titles.
"Our staff is so proud of the incredible achievements of our team this past year. Both in the classroom, with 15 Academic All-Big Ten selections, and on the competition floor," head coach Jenny Hansen said. "This season was incredible from start to finish and several athletes really stood out and led the way for our team this year. Not only did they shine individually, but they were incredibly consistent and pushed the team to new heights."
For the second season in a row, and the fourth time in program history, the Gophers had five gymnasts earn All-Big Ten honors. Ona Loper, Ivy Lu, Lexy Ramler and Tiarre Sales all earned first team honors, while Maddie Quarles made the second team. Minnesota and Michigan tied for the most gymnasts honored by the conference. Mary Korlin-Downs earns the Sportsmanship award for Minnesota for the first time in her career.
Ramler and Hansen repeated at the conference's Gymnast and Coach of the Year.
Big Ten Gymnast of the Year
Things seem to come in pairs for Ramler. Back-to-back perfect 10s, two-time Region 2 Gymnast of the year, two-time B1G Gymnast of the Week during 2020, and now she is the repeating Big Ten Gymnast of the Year.
"Lexy enjoyed another tremendous year, picking up right where she left off last year," said Hansen. "In addition she set career highs on vault, bars and balance beam, highlighted by back to back perfect 10's. We are incredibly proud of all she accomplished but also in how she grew as a person and as a leader."
This season was bound to be Ramler's best one yet after she reached perfection for the first time with a perfect 10 on beam in January. A week after her first perfect 10, she did it again, becoming the first Gopher gymnast to reach perfection in Maturi Pavilion and have multiple perfect 10s in one season.
"I'm beyond honored to receive this award," Ramler said. "It always means so much to be able to represent my home state. Each year at Minnesota has been one to remember and we had so much momentum this year. I'm thankful for all of my teammates and coaches supporting me and pushing me everyday, and even more grateful for this opportunity here at Minnesota. I look forward to one more year with an incredible team, heart warming fans, and wearing the M."
Big Ten Coach of the Year
After coaching her team to one of their best seasons yet, Hansen has been named the Big Ten Coach of the Year for the second straight season. This is the third Big Ten Coach of the Year honor for Hansen. A Minnesota gymnastics alumna, Hansen has spent the majority of her coaching career at Minnesota.
"I'm extremely honored to be selected as the Big Ten Coach of the Year," said the repeat winner. "I'm proud to be among the incredible coaches within the Big Ten and I'm humbled by this honor. We enjoyed a record breaking year as a team and I'm so proud of them. I'm thankful for our entire coaching staff, as I truly believe we have one of the best coaching staffs in the country."
With her guidance, the 2020 team found success, both in the classroom and the gym. The team led all winter programs at Minnesota and Big Ten gymnastics teams with 15 Academic-All-Big Ten selections. On the floor, the team reached new heights, putting up numerous top-10 all-time performances on vault, bars, beam and with team scores, virtually rewriting the record book.
For the first time in program history, Minnesota was ranked No. 1 nationally on beam for two weeks when they set a school record, scoring a 49.700 as a team at the Rutgers quad meet.
The Gophers finished the shortened season ranked No. 10 overall, No. 16 on vault, No. 8 on bars, No. 4 on beam and No. 19 on floor in the nation. They hit 197+ three times this season, notching the second-highest team score in program history with a 197.625 against NC State. The Maroon and Gold finished the 2020 season with a NQS of 197.410, accomplishing one of many team goals set.
Big Ten Sportsmanship Award
Korlin-Downs caps off a spectacular senior season as Minnesota's Sportsmanship honoree. In the final gymnastics meet of her career, Korlin-Downs recorded a career-high 9.925 at NC State. A staple in the beam lineup, the redshirt senior battled through multiple injuries and competed in almost every meet of her career at Minnesota.
"Mary has been an incredible leader for our team during her career, and has gone above and beyond in so many ways for our team this past year," said Hansen. "She was incredibly passionate and motivating day in and day out. We wouldn't have enjoyed our level of success without her."
All-Big Ten Teams
Ramler and Lu are named First Team All-Big Ten for the third time of their career, while Loper earns her second First Team honor. After being named to the second team as a freshman, Sales secured a spot on the First Team after an outstanding sophomore campaign. Quarles burst onto the gymnastics scene during her first season at Minnesota, earning Second Team honors.
Ramler finished the season ranked No. 1 on beam in the nation (9.975 NQS), No. 6 on bars nationally and No. 1 in the B1G (9.935 NQS), No. 8 in the all-around in the NCAA and No.1 in the conference (39.545 NQS) and No. 8 on vault in the Big Ten (9.875 NQS). This honor comes after she repeated as the Region 2 Gymnast of the Year, earned First Team All-American Honors (UB, BB, AA) and was named a Honda Sports Award Finalist for gymnastics.
After recently being named Minnesota's Big Ten Medal of Honor recipient, Lu closes out her collegiate career as a three-time All-Big Ten First Team selection. Lu is a nine-time Big Ten Event Specialist of the Week, earning that honor twice during the 2020 season. The senior earned a pair of event titles, one on each of her events. The Montreal, Quebec native ended the season ranked No. 22 nationally and No. 2 in the Big Ten on bars (9.895 NQS), and N0. 19 nationally and No. 4 in the conference on beam (9.905 NQS).
Loper had a season of a lifetime, earning her first Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honor back in February. She ended the season with a bang, being the last gymnast to earn the conference honor after a stellar performance against NC State. The year of firsts continued when she earned the first of three all-around titles of her career in the second meet of the season. She went on to win one title on the uneven bars and four on vault and floor.
During the final meet of junior season, she notched her first perfect 10 on vault and set a career-best 39.625 in the all-around, to tie for ninth all-time in program history. Loper ended the season ranked No. 18 nationally and No. 4 in the conference on vault (9.890 NQS), No. 12 nationally and No. 3 in the B1G in the all-around (39.495 NQS) and No. 4 in the conference on floor (9.900 NQS). The Bluffton, S.C. native spent four weeks at No. 1 in the all-around in the Big Ten and was ranked as high as No. 9 in the nation.
Sales set career-highs on floor (9.850), bars (9.900), beam (9.975) and in the all-around (39.375) throughout the season. The sophomore made her debut on floor against Ohio State with a 9.775. The following week against Iowa, she competed in the all-around for the first time ever in front of the home crowd with a score of 39.300. She was named the Big Ten Event Specialist of the Week once this season and earned her first career title on the uneven bars. She closed out the season ranked No. 7 on beam (9.895 NQS) and No. 9 on the uneven bars (9.865 NQS) in the conference.
In her first official collegiate gymnastics season, Quarles has earned second team honors for her performance. Spending most of her time as the anchor of the vault lineup, Quarles excelled on the event, posting a 9.800 or higher in eight out of the nine meets this season. In the final meet of the season, the redshirt freshman notched a career-high 9.925. She won two vault titles.
Seniors Sign "M"
Monday, May 04
Press Conference: Gymnastics Season Wrap
Wednesday, April 22
Highlights: NCAA Finals
Saturday, April 18
NCAA Finals Hype
Saturday, April 18