University of Minnesota Athletics
Players Mentioned
Men's Gymnastics Gives Team Awards, Names 2021 Captains
5/15/2020 2:50:00 PM | Men's Gymnastics
The Minnesota men's gymnastics team held a virtual team banquet on Friday afternoon and announced four team awards and team captains for the 2020-21 season.
Freshman Donte McKinney was named the Rookie of the Year, sophomore Mike Moran was given the Most Improved Gymnast award, junior captain Shane Wiskus was named Most Valuable Gymnast and lone 2020 senior and captain Timmy Kutyla received the Spirit of Golden Gophers Gymnastics honor as well as being the recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
McKinney had an impressive first season at Minnesota that saw him earn Rookie of the Year recognition. In six meets, he earned six event titles: three on vault, two on high bar and one pommel horse. Three of those came in Minnesota's home meet against Washington, and he received the Louis J. Cooke Award for his performance. Donte especially shined on vault and ended the season ranked No. 9, with the second-highest score in the country and best among all freshmen: 14.950. That routine at Michigan also earned him CGA Specialist of the week honors, the first in Minnesota's history. In addition to owning the Gophers' top vault score, McKinney also matched the best mark on high bar, 14.100, which he shared with fellow rookie Crew Bold.
Sophomore Mike Moran made significant strides in his sophomore year to earn the Most Improved Gymnast title. He went from being a two-event gymnast his rookie year to Minnesota's No. 2 all-arounder this season. He managed to set new career highs in five of six events and ended the season as the country's No. 12 all-arounder, No. 5 in the Big Ten. Moran was the Gophers' best floor worker and finished the year ranked No. 6, good for All-American honors.
Wiskus competed in four meets during his junior season with the Gophers and earned three all-around titles, seven event titles and six podium finishes. He held all but two of Minnesota's season high event scores and had new personal highs on rings (14.450), parallel bars (15.100) and all-around (84.600). His parallel bar routine against Illinois was Minnesota's highest score on the event since 2017, the Gophers' first mark over 15 since 2018 and was also named the Top Moment of the Season on Friday. Wiskus was named Big Ten Gymnast of the week four times, a three-time CGA All-American, the 2020 CGA MVP and the Big Ten Gymnast of the Year.
Timmy Kutyla's final season was proving to be his best yet in the maroon and gold before being cut short. He competed in every meet for the Gophers on parallel bars and high bar and set new career highs on both events: 14.200 on p-bars and 14.000 on high bar. He was able to win the first-ever event title of his career at home with a 13.850 on high bar against Illinois, and he added a p-bars title in Minnesota's second home meet against Washington (13.600). Kutyla had six other podium finishes on the season and finished ranked No. 4 on high bar to earn CGA All-American honors on the event.
The two-time team captain rightfully earned the Spirit of Golden Gopher Gymnastics award as one who "embodies the intangibles that define the culture of our team. A great example of what it truly means to be a Gopher gymnast." He was also Minnesota's 2020 Big Ten Sportsmanship Award recipient and recently named Academic All-Big Ten for the second time. He has now officially graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Business and Marketing Education.
In addition to team awards, freshmen Crew Bold, Andrew Hyde, Donte McKinney, Victor Perez and Valen Watrous and sophomores Tyler Davis, Jake Sawyer and Matt Sullivan all virtually earned their varsity letter jackets.
The Gophers also named their new leadership contingent for the 2020-21 season: Shane Wiskus, Henry Meeker and Tyler Davis. It will be Wiskus' second year in his role, with Meeker and Davis elevated to captains.
Meeker competed in every meet for Minnesota during the season and added parallel bars to his existing two events, pommel horse and rings. Henry was given the Big Ten Sportsmanship honor and the Spirit of Golden Gopher Gymnastics award in 2019 for his leadership and positive attitude, and has been an excellent influence for his teammates in the classroom. A Civil Engineering major, Meeker is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and was recently given a Top Five award from the University of Minnesota for having one of the best GPAs among all male student-athletes. Henry carries on the legacy of his father, Brian, who was also a captain in his storied career with the Gophers, which includes two Big Ten All-Around titles and a Big Ten Medal of Honor for his academic success.
Davis saw his first regular season meet action for the Gophers in his sophomore year, competing primarily on floor. His best finish came at home, where he set a new personal high of 13.150 against Washington to take fourth. Davis has also been a standout in the classroom and recently earned his first-ever Academic All-Big Ten honor with a 4.0 GPA in the fall 2019 semester.