Gophers Wrap Up Regular Season Against LIU, Temple and Utah State

The No. 8 University of Minnesota gymnastics competes in its final regular-season meet of the season on Saturday when it hosts LIU, Temple and Utah State. Minnesota's seven seniors – Ona Loper, Abbie Nylin, Lexy Ramler, Tiarre Sales, Ali Sonier, Maddie Quarles and Hannah Willmarth – will also be honored at the 4 p.m. quad-meet at Maturi Pavilion.

Last Time Out
Minnesota followed up its school-record 198.025 – which it set on Friday, Feb. 25 at home against Iowa – with a sparkling 197.850 at No. 4 Utah on Friday, March 4. Ona Loper tied for the all-around crown, Mya Hooten won the vault and three Gophers – Hooten, Lexy Ramler and Halle Remlinger – all posted a 9.925 on the floor as the then-No. 9 Gophers recorded their second-best team score ever and highest road score in school history.

Loper tied Utah's Grace McCallum, who competed for Team USA at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, for the all-around title with a 39.675. Loper scored a 9.900 or better in every rotation, with her best mark of the night coming on vault where she scored a 9.950. The fifth-year senior also had a 9.925 on the beam and a 9.900 on both the bars and the floor.

Minnesota took the top two spots on the vault as it scored a 49.450 as a team. Hooten and Loper led the Gophers with a 9.975 and 9.950, respectively. Hooten's 9.975 tied her career high, which she set the last time the Gophers competed at home against Iowa on March 4.

Minnesota's beam team continued to bounce back in a big way as it posted a season-best 49.475. This comes on the heels of a 49.425 against Iowa the week before. More importantly it was another strong performance for a unit that scored a 48.650 in the Big Five Meet two weeks ago and a 48.050 in a tri-meet at Maryland three weeks ago after starting the season with a 49.025 or higher in the first four meets. Friday's 49.475 was the tenth best score in school history on the beam and the best mark for the Gophers since it posted a 49.500 at the NCAA Regional Final in 2021.

Gophers In the Rankings
Minnesota comes in at No. 8 overall in the national rankings. The Gophers are ranked third in the nation on floor, seventh on vault, tenth on bars and 23rd on beam.

Ramler is ranked the No. 4 in the all-around, while Loper comes in at No. 5. Ramler is also ranked fifth on beam, 13th on bars, 27th on floor and 47th on the vault, while Loper is ranked second on vault, 20th on vault, 29th on bars and 46th on beam.

Also ranked in the top 70 for the Gophers are Hooten, Willmarth and Halle Remlinger. Hooten is ranked tied for 37th on the vault, while senior Willmarth is tied for 66th on the bars and Remlinger is tied for 24th on the floor.

Hooten, who is one of the most dynamic gymnasts on the floor and has two perfect 10s this year on the apparatus, was previously ranked No. 5 in the nation. However, she fell out of the rankings as she has not competed the minimum amount of times on the floor to be ranked by NQS.

B1G Weekly Honors
Senior Ona Loper was honored by the Big Ten this week after her strong performance last Friday at No. 4 Utah. Loper was named Big Ten Gymnast of the Week after posting a 39.675 to tie 2020 Olympian and Utah freshman Grace McCallum for all-around honors.

Loper scored a 9.900 or better in every rotation, with her best mark of the night coming on vault where she scored a 9.950. The fifth-year senior also had a 9.925 on the beam and a 9.900 on both the bars and the floor.

This is the sixth time that Loper has been named Big Ten Gymnast of the Week in her career and the third time that she has been recognized this year.

This is the fourth straight week that a Gopher has been named Big Ten Gymnast of the Week.

2022 B1G Weekly Awards
Ona Loper: B1G Gymnast of the Week - (3/8/22)
Lexy Ramler: B1G Gymnast of the Week - (3/1/22)
Mya Hooten: B1G Specialist of the Week - (3/1/22)
Lexy Ramler: B1G Gymnast of the Week - (2/22/22)
Ona Loper: B1G Gymnast of the Week - (2/15/22)
Mya Hooten: B1G Specialist of the Week - (1/25/22)
Ona Loper: B1G Gymnast of the Week - (1/25/22)
Lexy Ramler: B1G Gymnast of the Week - (1/18/22)

Scouting Utah State
No. 22 Utah State is led by all-arounder Rebecca Wells. The junior, who is ranked No. 33 in the all-around, enters the meet with 13 titles this season, with her most recent coming on the vault in a tri-meet against Washington and Stanford. Wells is ranked No. 50 in the nation on the vault, which is her highest individual event ranking.

Freshman Brie Clark is another Aggie to keep an eye on, as she is ranked No. 15 in the nation on the floor. She recently won her eighth title of the season on the floor with a 9.900 against Washington and Stanford as she led Utah State to a team score of 48.950 on the apparatus.

As a team, the Aggies are ranked No. 10 on the beam, No. 21 on the floor and No. 29 on both the vault and bars.

Scouting Temple
Temple is ranked No. 43 in the nation and as a team it is ranked No. 27 on vault, No. 29 on beam, No. 34 on floor and No. 42 on bars. Leading the Owls is Hannah Stallings, who is ranked No. 51 in the all-around.

In its most recent meet, Temple set a school record on beam with a 49.325 in a tri-meet against West Chester and New Hampshire. The Owls also tied a school record on floor with a 49.375 and sophomore Brooke Donabedian tied a school record on the floor with a 9.950.

Scouting LIU
LIU is in its second season of competition as a varsity program as the school announced it was adding women's gymnastics on March 5, 2020. The Sharks are ranked No. 55 in the nation as a team and check in at No. 52 on the floor and are ranked No. 53 on the vault, bars and beam.

The Sharks highest-ranked gymnast is Mara Titarsolej, who is ranked tied for No. 8 on the bars. Titarsolej has been named EAGL Specialist of the Week four times this season and heads to Minnesota with a 10.000 on her resume, as the sophomore notched LIU's first-ever 10.000 on the bars against North Carolina last Sunday. As a team, the Sharks scored a 195.075 against North Carolina, which also set a record for the highest mark in program history.

Up Next
Minnesota will compete in the Big Ten championships on Saturday, March 19, in Columbus, Ohio. The Gophers are the defending champions as they won the meet last year when they recorded a then-team best 197.750 as the host.

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Players Mentioned

Mya Hooten

Ona Loper

Abbie Nylin

Maddie Quarles

Lexy Ramler

Halle Remlinger

Tiarre Sales

Ali Sonier

Hannah Willmarth