University of Minnesota Athletics
Thursday, April 14
Fort Worth, TX (Dickies Arena)
12:00 PM
University of Minnesota
at
NCAA National Semifinals
Players Mentioned
/ Gymnastics
/ Gymnastics
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Photo by: Brad Rempel
Minnesota Ready for NCAA Team Championships
4/10/2022 11:33:00 AM | Gymnastics
Gophers to compete in team finals for second straight year
The No. 7 University of Minnesota gymnastics team will compete at the NCAA National Championships at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas on April 14-16. The Gophers, who are one of eight teams to compete in the national championship meet, advanced by finishing second to No. 1 Oklahoma in the Norman Regional two weeks ago.
Minnesota qualified for the NCAA National Championships as a team for the sixth time ever. The Gophers also earned a spot in the championship meet in 1997 (10th-place finish), 2002 (ninth), 2013 (eighth), 2016 (12th) and 2021 (eighth). This marks the first time ever in school history that the Gophers qualified for the NCAA Championships as a team in consecutive years.
The Gophers will compete in the first semifinal at 12 p.m. on Thursday against No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 4 Utah and No. 5 Alabama. Minnesota has competed against Oklahoma (Norman Regional) and Utah (regular-season road meet) this year.
The second semifinal on Thursday will feature No. 2 Florida, No. 3 Michigan, No. 6 Auburn and No. 8 Missouri. The top two teams from each semifinal will advance to the finals on Saturday where a national team champion will be crowned.
Last Time Out
Then No. 8 Minnesota competed in the Norman Regional from March 31 – April 2 against No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 9 California, No. 16 Arizona State, Boise State, Utah State, Arkansas, West Virginia and Arizona.
Minnesota won its semifinal and advanced to the regional final against Oklahoma, California and Arkansas.
The Gophers earned a score of 197.725 to finish second to Oklahoma and advance to the NCAA National Championships. Minnesota entered the final rotation trailing California, but a meet-best floor routine propelled the Golden Gophers past the Golden Bears and punched their ticket to Texas.
Super seniors Ona Loper and Lexy Ramler placed first and second in the all-around among five competitors. Loper placed first with a score of 39.700 – the third highest score of her career – after posting a 9.900 or higher on every event. Loper scored a 9.950 on vault and floor and a 9.900 on bars and beam. Ramler took second in the all-around with a 39.600 after totaling a 9.925 on vault, a 9.875 on bars, a 9.900 on beam and a 9.900 on floor.
Last Time At The NCAA National Championships
Minnesota competed as a team at the 2021 NCAA National Championships after advancing from the Athens Regional. Minnesota finished fourth in the first semifinal with a final team score of 197.1875, placing behind Michigan, Florida and California. The Gophers would finish eighth overall in the meet.
The 197.1875 team score was the highest Minnesota has ever produced at the NCAA National Championships, with the previous high set at 196.375 in 2013 when the team placed eighth.
WCGA All-Americans
The Regular Season All-America Award winners for the 2022 season were recently announced by the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) and Minnesota had three representatives – Loper, Ramler and Mya Hooten – on the list.
Ramler earned First Team All-American honors in the all-around and beam and was named to the Second Team on bars. Loper was named to the First Team in the all-around and vault, while Hooten was named to the First Team on floor and Second Team on vault.
Student-athletes with the top eight National Qualifying Scores (NQS) for the regular season, including ties, for each event plus the all-around earned All-America honors. Second team All-America honors were earned by student athletes ranked. No 9-16, with ties, in the NQS.
All Big Ten Honors
Ramler and Loper were both named to the First Team, while Hooten and Halle Remlinger were named to the Second Team. Minnesota's Sportsmanship Honoree was Abbie Nylin.
Ramler and Loper have defined Minnesota gymnastics excellence and during the last several years and this is the fifth time (every season since 2018) that Ramler has been First Team All-Big Ten and it is the fourth time (every season since 2019) that Loper has been honored.
Ramler has set or tied career highs this year on the beam (10.000), bars (9.975) and floor (9.975). She has one perfect 10 this year, which came on the beam at home against Iowa.
Loper has set or tied career highs this year on vault (10.000), bars (9.950), beam (9.925), floor (9.950) and the all-around (39.750). She has two perfect 10s this year, which came on the vault at home against Michigan and on the road in a tri-meet at Maryland.
Hooten has three perfect 10s on the floor this year and is the only Gopher gymnast in program history to record a perfect 10 on the floor. Hooten also set a career high on vault (9.975) and tied her career high on bars with a 9.875 multiple times. This is the second time that Hooten has been named to an all-conference team, as she was named First Team All-Big Ten last season.
Remlinger has been a constant on bars and floor this year. She has set career highs in both with a 9.875 on bars and a 9.950 on the floor. This is the first time that Remlinger was named to an all-conference team.
Region 2 Honors
Head coach Jenny Hansen was named NCAA Region 2 Co-Coach of the year, while her staff – consisting of Rich Stenger, Geralen Stack-Eaton Stenger and Kiki Parenteau – were named Co-Assistant Coaches of the Year.
Ramler was honored as the NCAA Region 2 Gymnast of the Year for the third time in her career. Ramler, who is ranked No. 5 in the nation in the all-around, also received the honor in 2020 and 2019.
Minnesota's Marc Ryan, who is a senior associate athletic director with oversight of the gymnastics program, was named NCAA Region 2 Co-Administrator of the Year.
AAI Finalist
Loper was named a finalist for the AAI Award, which is presented annually to the nation's most outstanding senior. Her teammate Ramler won the award last year.
Loper is one of six finalists for the prestigious award and is joined by Kyla Bryant (Stanford), Derrian Gobourne (Auburn), Lexi Graber (Alabama), Trinity Thomas (Florida) and Natalie Wojcik (Michigan).
AAI has been awarding this honor for more than 30 years. NCAA head coaches were asked to submit a nomination for the candidate or candidates of their choice. In February, 31 nominees were announced and now there are six finalists. Coaches will now cast their vote for who they feel is the top female gymnast in the country and the winner will be announced at the NCAA Championships in April.
Club 198
Minnesota eclipsed the 198 mark earlier this season when it scored a program-record 198.025 in a home meet against Iowa. Minnesota's four highest team scores in school history have all come this year, as the Gophers also recorded a 197.850 at Utah and in a home quad meet against LIU, Temple and Utah State. Minnesota scored a 197.825 in the NCAA Regional semifinal in Norman, Okla. The Gophers also notched a 197.725 in the Regional Final, which was their sixth highest score ever.
Floor Success
Minnesota's six highest team floor scores in program history have all come this year. Minnesota set a program record with a 49.750 in a home quad-meet with LIU, Temple and Utah State. Minnesota also recorded a 49.725 (vs Michigan), 49.700 (vs. Ohio State), 49.650 (vs. Iowa and at NCAA Regional Final) and a 49.575 (at Big Ten Championships) this year.
Perfect 10s
Minnesota has recorded six perfect 10s this year, coming from three different student-athletes on three different events. Hooten leads the way with three perfect 10s on the floor and is followed by Loper who has two perfect 10s on the vault. Ramler has one perfect 10 on the beam this year.
Hooten has four perfect 10s (three in 2022 and one in 2021) on the floor, while Loper has five perfect 10s (two in 2022, two in 2021 and one in 2020) on the vault. Loper recorded a perfect 10 on the vault last year at the NCAA Regionals. Ramler has five perfect 10s in her career, as she has four on the beam (1 in 2022, 1 in 2021 and 2 in 2020) and one on the vault (2021).
Minnesota has never had a perfect 10 on the bars, as the program record is a 9.975 (Ramler has five 9.975s in her career).
B1G Weekly Honors
Minnesota had a gymnast recognized by the Big Ten nine different times this year, as Ramler, Loper and Hooten were all honored three times. Ramler and Loper were recognized as Big Ten Gymnast of the Week three times and Hooten was named Big Ten Specialist of the Week three times.
Ramler has been named a conference-record Big Ten Gymnast of the Week 21 times in her career, while Loper has received the honor six times. Hooten has been named Event Specialist of the Week four times in her career.
2022 B1G Weekly Awards
Mya Hooten: B1G Specialist of the Week - (3/14/22)
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)
Minnesota qualified for the NCAA National Championships as a team for the sixth time ever. The Gophers also earned a spot in the championship meet in 1997 (10th-place finish), 2002 (ninth), 2013 (eighth), 2016 (12th) and 2021 (eighth). This marks the first time ever in school history that the Gophers qualified for the NCAA Championships as a team in consecutive years.
The Gophers will compete in the first semifinal at 12 p.m. on Thursday against No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 4 Utah and No. 5 Alabama. Minnesota has competed against Oklahoma (Norman Regional) and Utah (regular-season road meet) this year.
The second semifinal on Thursday will feature No. 2 Florida, No. 3 Michigan, No. 6 Auburn and No. 8 Missouri. The top two teams from each semifinal will advance to the finals on Saturday where a national team champion will be crowned.
Last Time Out
Then No. 8 Minnesota competed in the Norman Regional from March 31 – April 2 against No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 9 California, No. 16 Arizona State, Boise State, Utah State, Arkansas, West Virginia and Arizona.
Minnesota won its semifinal and advanced to the regional final against Oklahoma, California and Arkansas.
The Gophers earned a score of 197.725 to finish second to Oklahoma and advance to the NCAA National Championships. Minnesota entered the final rotation trailing California, but a meet-best floor routine propelled the Golden Gophers past the Golden Bears and punched their ticket to Texas.
Super seniors Ona Loper and Lexy Ramler placed first and second in the all-around among five competitors. Loper placed first with a score of 39.700 – the third highest score of her career – after posting a 9.900 or higher on every event. Loper scored a 9.950 on vault and floor and a 9.900 on bars and beam. Ramler took second in the all-around with a 39.600 after totaling a 9.925 on vault, a 9.875 on bars, a 9.900 on beam and a 9.900 on floor.
Last Time At The NCAA National Championships
Minnesota competed as a team at the 2021 NCAA National Championships after advancing from the Athens Regional. Minnesota finished fourth in the first semifinal with a final team score of 197.1875, placing behind Michigan, Florida and California. The Gophers would finish eighth overall in the meet.
The 197.1875 team score was the highest Minnesota has ever produced at the NCAA National Championships, with the previous high set at 196.375 in 2013 when the team placed eighth.
WCGA All-Americans
The Regular Season All-America Award winners for the 2022 season were recently announced by the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) and Minnesota had three representatives – Loper, Ramler and Mya Hooten – on the list.
Ramler earned First Team All-American honors in the all-around and beam and was named to the Second Team on bars. Loper was named to the First Team in the all-around and vault, while Hooten was named to the First Team on floor and Second Team on vault.
Student-athletes with the top eight National Qualifying Scores (NQS) for the regular season, including ties, for each event plus the all-around earned All-America honors. Second team All-America honors were earned by student athletes ranked. No 9-16, with ties, in the NQS.
All Big Ten Honors
Ramler and Loper were both named to the First Team, while Hooten and Halle Remlinger were named to the Second Team. Minnesota's Sportsmanship Honoree was Abbie Nylin.
Ramler and Loper have defined Minnesota gymnastics excellence and during the last several years and this is the fifth time (every season since 2018) that Ramler has been First Team All-Big Ten and it is the fourth time (every season since 2019) that Loper has been honored.
Ramler has set or tied career highs this year on the beam (10.000), bars (9.975) and floor (9.975). She has one perfect 10 this year, which came on the beam at home against Iowa.
Loper has set or tied career highs this year on vault (10.000), bars (9.950), beam (9.925), floor (9.950) and the all-around (39.750). She has two perfect 10s this year, which came on the vault at home against Michigan and on the road in a tri-meet at Maryland.
Hooten has three perfect 10s on the floor this year and is the only Gopher gymnast in program history to record a perfect 10 on the floor. Hooten also set a career high on vault (9.975) and tied her career high on bars with a 9.875 multiple times. This is the second time that Hooten has been named to an all-conference team, as she was named First Team All-Big Ten last season.
Remlinger has been a constant on bars and floor this year. She has set career highs in both with a 9.875 on bars and a 9.950 on the floor. This is the first time that Remlinger was named to an all-conference team.
Region 2 Honors
Head coach Jenny Hansen was named NCAA Region 2 Co-Coach of the year, while her staff – consisting of Rich Stenger, Geralen Stack-Eaton Stenger and Kiki Parenteau – were named Co-Assistant Coaches of the Year.
Ramler was honored as the NCAA Region 2 Gymnast of the Year for the third time in her career. Ramler, who is ranked No. 5 in the nation in the all-around, also received the honor in 2020 and 2019.
Minnesota's Marc Ryan, who is a senior associate athletic director with oversight of the gymnastics program, was named NCAA Region 2 Co-Administrator of the Year.
AAI Finalist
Loper was named a finalist for the AAI Award, which is presented annually to the nation's most outstanding senior. Her teammate Ramler won the award last year.
Loper is one of six finalists for the prestigious award and is joined by Kyla Bryant (Stanford), Derrian Gobourne (Auburn), Lexi Graber (Alabama), Trinity Thomas (Florida) and Natalie Wojcik (Michigan).
AAI has been awarding this honor for more than 30 years. NCAA head coaches were asked to submit a nomination for the candidate or candidates of their choice. In February, 31 nominees were announced and now there are six finalists. Coaches will now cast their vote for who they feel is the top female gymnast in the country and the winner will be announced at the NCAA Championships in April.
Club 198
Minnesota eclipsed the 198 mark earlier this season when it scored a program-record 198.025 in a home meet against Iowa. Minnesota's four highest team scores in school history have all come this year, as the Gophers also recorded a 197.850 at Utah and in a home quad meet against LIU, Temple and Utah State. Minnesota scored a 197.825 in the NCAA Regional semifinal in Norman, Okla. The Gophers also notched a 197.725 in the Regional Final, which was their sixth highest score ever.
Floor Success
Minnesota's six highest team floor scores in program history have all come this year. Minnesota set a program record with a 49.750 in a home quad-meet with LIU, Temple and Utah State. Minnesota also recorded a 49.725 (vs Michigan), 49.700 (vs. Ohio State), 49.650 (vs. Iowa and at NCAA Regional Final) and a 49.575 (at Big Ten Championships) this year.
Perfect 10s
Minnesota has recorded six perfect 10s this year, coming from three different student-athletes on three different events. Hooten leads the way with three perfect 10s on the floor and is followed by Loper who has two perfect 10s on the vault. Ramler has one perfect 10 on the beam this year.
Hooten has four perfect 10s (three in 2022 and one in 2021) on the floor, while Loper has five perfect 10s (two in 2022, two in 2021 and one in 2020) on the vault. Loper recorded a perfect 10 on the vault last year at the NCAA Regionals. Ramler has five perfect 10s in her career, as she has four on the beam (1 in 2022, 1 in 2021 and 2 in 2020) and one on the vault (2021).
Minnesota has never had a perfect 10 on the bars, as the program record is a 9.975 (Ramler has five 9.975s in her career).
B1G Weekly Honors
Minnesota had a gymnast recognized by the Big Ten nine different times this year, as Ramler, Loper and Hooten were all honored three times. Ramler and Loper were recognized as Big Ten Gymnast of the Week three times and Hooten was named Big Ten Specialist of the Week three times.
Ramler has been named a conference-record Big Ten Gymnast of the Week 21 times in her career, while Loper has received the honor six times. Hooten has been named Event Specialist of the Week four times in her career.
2022 B1G Weekly Awards
Mya Hooten: B1G Specialist of the Week - (3/14/22)
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)
Level Up - Team Bonding
Thursday, November 06
Signing the Block M
Tuesday, May 20
Mya Hooten: NCAA Floor Final
Friday, April 18
Mya Hooten Previews NCAA Championships
Monday, April 14