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Photo by: Christopher Mitchell
Minnesota Hosts Iowa to Open Season
1/14/2021 3:00:00 PM | Gymnastics
The University of Minnesota women's gymnastics team officially starts the 2021 season on Friday when they host Iowa. The two teams will face-off at 3:30 pm CT at Maturi Pavilion and the meet will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.
The Gophers return four of their five student-athletes who were tabbed All-Big Ten, including Lexy Ramler, Ona Loper and Tiarre Sales who earned first team honors. Maddie Quarles made the second team and rounds out the All-Big Ten honorees who are returning.
Minnesota has five seniors on the 2021 squad: Mary Korlin-Downs, Loper, Lexi Montgomery, Ramler and Hannah Willmarth. The Maroon and Gold also welcomes six freshmen to the team who will make an immediate impact. Erin Fortman, Gianna Gerdes, Mya Hooten, Katie Horak, Emily Koch and Ella Sirjord are the newcomers.
Head coach Jenny Hansen is in her seventh season at the helm of the program. In 2020, she earned her third Big Ten Coach of the Year award in the last four seasons. Associate head coach Rich Stenger and assistant coach Geralen Stack-Eaton also enter their seventh year with the program.
Hansen, Stenger and Stack-Eaton helped the team to one of its most successful campaigns in 2020 despite the abrupt end to the season due to Coronavirus concerns. 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. 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 on the event. Out of the gym, the Gophers set a program record with 13 WCGA Scholastic All-Americans. Minnesota boasted 15 Academic All-Big Ten honorees and six Big-Ten Distinguished Scholars.
Gophers by Event
Vault
"Vault continues to get better and better for us each year," Hansen said. " We are adding some very strong vaulters to our team this year, and vault was a great event for us last year. We are even better this year and I am very excited about the level of difficulty and consistency we have there.
The Gophers welcome back Loper to the lineup after she scored a perfect 10 on vault last season. Ramler and Quarles will also play integral roles in the vault lineup. Freshmen Gerdes, Horak and Hooten will look to make an impact on the event during their first season with the Maroon and Gold.
Bars
"We have a couple new faces on bars this year," Hansen said. " We are excited to see some freshmen added to the lineup as well as a couple sophomores that have continued to progress. I expect them to fight for lineup spots the whole season as well."
Loper, Ramler and Sales were all consistent on bars for the Gophers during the 2020 season and will lead the bars team alongside seniors Montgomery and Willmarth, who will also be key components to the lineup. Hooten will play a large role for Minnesota on the event.
Beam
"Beam was our best event last year and I expect it to continue to be at that point for us this year," Hansen said. "We only lost one beam routine from last year's squad and we have a lot of new, young balance beam workers that will be fighting for a spot now."
Ramler ended the 2020 season ranked as the No.1 beam worker in the nation and will lead the beam team during her senior season. 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.
Korlin-Downs, Loper, Montgomery, Sales and Sonier will also play a big role for the Gophers on beam.
Floor
"Floor is another event where we expect a lot of freshmen to contribute to this year," Hansen said. "We've got great routines from freshmen and higher level difficulty passes we are hoping to add this year. I think our level of difficulty on floor will continue to increase this year."
The Gophers will be debuting multiple new floor routines this season with a variety of styles. With a lot of depth in the event, Minnesota will have numerous gymnasts looking to get into the lineup. Seniors Loper and Ramler will lead the floor squad alongside Sonier. Freshmen Koch and Fortman will be in the position to make an impact as well. Hooten, a fellow freshman and former junior national champion on floor, will round out the event.
All-Around
Ramler and Loper, both named Big Ten Gymnasts to Watch, will compete in all four events in 2021.
Gophers in the Polls
Minnesota came in at No. 2 in the Big Ten Preseason Coaches' Poll and No. 11 in the WCGA Preseason Poll.
The Gophers finished 2020 being ranked No. 10 overall, No. 16 on vault, No. 8 on bars, No. 4 on beam and No. 19 on floor in the nation. Ramler ended the 2020 season coming in at No. 1 on beam in the nation, No. 6 on bars nationally and No. 1 in the B1G, No. 8 in the all-around in the NCAA and No.1 in the conference and No. 8 on vault in the Big Ten.
Scouting Iowa
Iowa starts the season ranked No. 4 in the Big Ten and No. 25 in the WCGA Preseason Poll. Two Hawkeye underclassmen – sophomore JerQuavia Henderson and freshman Adeline Kenlin – were named to the Big Ten Gymnasts to Watch List. It is the second straight year Henderson has been named to the Watch List, though she missed the 2020 season with an Achilles injury.
The Hawkeyes return both Lauren Guerin and Allyson Steffensmeier, who both wrote their names in the Iowa record books last season. Guerin was consistent on the floor during her sophomore season. She competed in the event in every Hawkeye meet where she recorded nine consecutive scores of 9.850 or better. Guerin posted a career high 9.950 at Maryland to tie the third-best floor score in program history. Steffensmeier competed on bars in every meet and recorded a 9.925 on the event, tying for sixth in the record books.
The Gophers return four of their five student-athletes who were tabbed All-Big Ten, including Lexy Ramler, Ona Loper and Tiarre Sales who earned first team honors. Maddie Quarles made the second team and rounds out the All-Big Ten honorees who are returning.
Minnesota has five seniors on the 2021 squad: Mary Korlin-Downs, Loper, Lexi Montgomery, Ramler and Hannah Willmarth. The Maroon and Gold also welcomes six freshmen to the team who will make an immediate impact. Erin Fortman, Gianna Gerdes, Mya Hooten, Katie Horak, Emily Koch and Ella Sirjord are the newcomers.
Head coach Jenny Hansen is in her seventh season at the helm of the program. In 2020, she earned her third Big Ten Coach of the Year award in the last four seasons. Associate head coach Rich Stenger and assistant coach Geralen Stack-Eaton also enter their seventh year with the program.
Hansen, Stenger and Stack-Eaton helped the team to one of its most successful campaigns in 2020 despite the abrupt end to the season due to Coronavirus concerns. 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. 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 on the event. Out of the gym, the Gophers set a program record with 13 WCGA Scholastic All-Americans. Minnesota boasted 15 Academic All-Big Ten honorees and six Big-Ten Distinguished Scholars.
Gophers by Event
Vault
"Vault continues to get better and better for us each year," Hansen said. " We are adding some very strong vaulters to our team this year, and vault was a great event for us last year. We are even better this year and I am very excited about the level of difficulty and consistency we have there.
The Gophers welcome back Loper to the lineup after she scored a perfect 10 on vault last season. Ramler and Quarles will also play integral roles in the vault lineup. Freshmen Gerdes, Horak and Hooten will look to make an impact on the event during their first season with the Maroon and Gold.
Bars
"We have a couple new faces on bars this year," Hansen said. " We are excited to see some freshmen added to the lineup as well as a couple sophomores that have continued to progress. I expect them to fight for lineup spots the whole season as well."
Loper, Ramler and Sales were all consistent on bars for the Gophers during the 2020 season and will lead the bars team alongside seniors Montgomery and Willmarth, who will also be key components to the lineup. Hooten will play a large role for Minnesota on the event.
Beam
"Beam was our best event last year and I expect it to continue to be at that point for us this year," Hansen said. "We only lost one beam routine from last year's squad and we have a lot of new, young balance beam workers that will be fighting for a spot now."
Ramler ended the 2020 season ranked as the No.1 beam worker in the nation and will lead the beam team during her senior season. 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.
Korlin-Downs, Loper, Montgomery, Sales and Sonier will also play a big role for the Gophers on beam.
Floor
"Floor is another event where we expect a lot of freshmen to contribute to this year," Hansen said. "We've got great routines from freshmen and higher level difficulty passes we are hoping to add this year. I think our level of difficulty on floor will continue to increase this year."
The Gophers will be debuting multiple new floor routines this season with a variety of styles. With a lot of depth in the event, Minnesota will have numerous gymnasts looking to get into the lineup. Seniors Loper and Ramler will lead the floor squad alongside Sonier. Freshmen Koch and Fortman will be in the position to make an impact as well. Hooten, a fellow freshman and former junior national champion on floor, will round out the event.
All-Around
Ramler and Loper, both named Big Ten Gymnasts to Watch, will compete in all four events in 2021.
Gophers in the Polls
Minnesota came in at No. 2 in the Big Ten Preseason Coaches' Poll and No. 11 in the WCGA Preseason Poll.
The Gophers finished 2020 being ranked No. 10 overall, No. 16 on vault, No. 8 on bars, No. 4 on beam and No. 19 on floor in the nation. Ramler ended the 2020 season coming in at No. 1 on beam in the nation, No. 6 on bars nationally and No. 1 in the B1G, No. 8 in the all-around in the NCAA and No.1 in the conference and No. 8 on vault in the Big Ten.
Scouting Iowa
Iowa starts the season ranked No. 4 in the Big Ten and No. 25 in the WCGA Preseason Poll. Two Hawkeye underclassmen – sophomore JerQuavia Henderson and freshman Adeline Kenlin – were named to the Big Ten Gymnasts to Watch List. It is the second straight year Henderson has been named to the Watch List, though she missed the 2020 season with an Achilles injury.
The Hawkeyes return both Lauren Guerin and Allyson Steffensmeier, who both wrote their names in the Iowa record books last season. Guerin was consistent on the floor during her sophomore season. She competed in the event in every Hawkeye meet where she recorded nine consecutive scores of 9.850 or better. Guerin posted a career high 9.950 at Maryland to tie the third-best floor score in program history. Steffensmeier competed on bars in every meet and recorded a 9.925 on the event, tying for sixth in the record books.
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