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Loper and Ramler Nominated for AAI Award
2/24/2021 2:30:00 PM | Gymnastics
University of Minnesota women's gymnastics seniors Ona Loper and Lexy Ramler have been named nominees for the AAI Award, presented to the nation's most outstanding senior.
The AAI Award is widely considered the Heisman Trophy of women's gymnastics. AAI has been awarding this honor for over 30 years. NCAA head coaches were asked to submit a nomination for the candidate or candidates of their choice. After the initial nominations, the field is narrowed to the top six student-athletes.
Loper and Ramler are two of 30 nominees for the award, and two of nine representatives of the Big Ten recognized on the nomination list. Minnesota is one of only two schools this season to have a pair of nominations, joining No. 1 ranked Florida.
Ramler is one of the most decorated student-athletes in University of Minnesota history and has amassed more than 1,500 career points so far. The St. Michael, Minn. native was on pace to make another run at a national title when Covid-19 shortened the 2020 season. Despite the abrupt end to her junior campaign, Lexy had her best season yet. 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. Things continued 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 she repeated as the Big Ten Gymnast of the Year.
Ramler finished the 2020 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). She won 15 event titles, earned All-Big Ten First Team honors, First Team All-American honors (UB, BB, AA) and was named a Honda Sports Award Finalist for gymnastics.
Loper had a breakout season in 2020 during her junior campaign, starting with her first Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honor 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.
The Bluffton, S.C. native 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). Loper 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.
The AAI Award is widely considered the Heisman Trophy of women's gymnastics. AAI has been awarding this honor for over 30 years. NCAA head coaches were asked to submit a nomination for the candidate or candidates of their choice. After the initial nominations, the field is narrowed to the top six student-athletes.
Loper and Ramler are two of 30 nominees for the award, and two of nine representatives of the Big Ten recognized on the nomination list. Minnesota is one of only two schools this season to have a pair of nominations, joining No. 1 ranked Florida.
Ramler is one of the most decorated student-athletes in University of Minnesota history and has amassed more than 1,500 career points so far. The St. Michael, Minn. native was on pace to make another run at a national title when Covid-19 shortened the 2020 season. Despite the abrupt end to her junior campaign, Lexy had her best season yet. 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. Things continued 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 she repeated as the Big Ten Gymnast of the Year.
Ramler finished the 2020 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). She won 15 event titles, earned All-Big Ten First Team honors, First Team All-American honors (UB, BB, AA) and was named a Honda Sports Award Finalist for gymnastics.
Loper had a breakout season in 2020 during her junior campaign, starting with her first Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honor 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.
The Bluffton, S.C. native 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). Loper 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.
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