Gophers Announce 2024 Team Awards

MINNEAPOLIS -- The University of Minnesota gymnastics program held its annual end-of-year banquet on Saturday, during which they celebrated the 2024 season and handed out postseason awards.

As a team, Minnesota (20-11, 6-3 Big Ten) finished second at the Big Ten Championships and made the NCAA Regional Finals for the third time in the last four seasons. Their No. 12 final ranking was the highest finish of any Big Ten team. The Gophers were picked to finish fifth in the Big Ten Preseason Poll behind Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Iowa.

2024 Season Accomplishments:

The 'U' finished second at the 2024 Big Ten Championships with a score of 197.500, falling to Michigan State by just .100. It was the second-highest finish at the conference championships under Jenny Hansen.
Minnesota advanced to the Regional Finals for the third time in the last four seasons in 2024, one of just three Big Ten teams to do so. Their 197.400 score on Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark., placed them fourth in the region behind No. 2 LSU (198.250), No. 7 Arkansas (197.825) and No. 10 Kentucky (197.475).
Minnesota finished with a 20-11 (6-3 Big Ten) final record, their most wins under Jenny Hansen in her 10-year tenure. The Gophers were also slotted as the No. 18 team in the country according to the WCGA Preseason Poll and finished six spots ahead of that.
Four Gophers earned All-Big Ten honors this season, including the fourth for Mya Hooten (First Team) and second for Gianna Gerdes (First Team). Lauren Pearl and Ella Sirjord both made the second team for their first career All-B1G honors.
Minnesota had its second-best score at B1G Championships in program history (197.500).
As a team, Minnesota won 45 event titles, including six all-around, nine on vault, six on bars, 10 on beam and 14 on the floor.
Mya Hooten (vault) qualified for the NCAA Championships as an individual, it's the first time since 2019 the Gophers have had an individual go to nationals (without the team).
Hooten won an NCAA Regional Title in vault, her second career regional victory (floor in 2022). She became just the fifth Gopher ever to take home multiple regional titles.
Hooten was named a WCGA First Team All-American on both floor and vault for the first time in her career.
Hooten earned three perfect 10s on floor, now totaling nine perfect 10s on the event in her four years.
Freshman Jordyn Lyden tied the program record for best uneven bars score when she went 9.975 at Penn State on Feb. 3.
The team had B1G Individual Champions in all four events for the first time since 1989 and second time ever.
Just the third time in the last 20 seasons that multiple Gophers took home B1G Individual titles (Mya Hooten, bars, floor, vault); (Sarah Moraw, beam)
Had the sixth best score in program history (March 17, 197.725).
Tallied the fifth best bars score (49.500) in program history at the NCAA Regionals.
Fifth (49.675) and Sixth (49.650) best floor scores in program history vs. Michigan (Feb. 10, 49.650) and on Senior Day (March 17, 49.625)
Third best beam score (March 17, 49.625) in program history.
Most wins (20) in the Jenny Hansen era and the fifth-most in program history.
Sixth straight year with four-or-more All-B1G selections.
Seventh straight year with 10+ Academic All-Big Ten honorees.

Minnesota's banquet was held at Huntington Bank Stadium and multiple awards were passed out as the Gophers celebrated another successful season.

The coaching staff handed out six awards at the banquet:

Most Valuable Performer: Gianna Gerdes and Mya Hooten

Most Improved: Lauren Pearl

Freshman of the Year: Jordyn Lyden and Sophia Nguyen

Most Valuable Teammate(s): Emily Koch, Ella Sirjord

Mariam Award: Katie Horak and Sarah Moraw

-This award is named after Mariam Pourshoushtari, a former Gopher gymnast who survived meningitis. Her perseverance is a testament to what it means to dedicate all of your personal resources and willpower to achieve something. This honor is given to the gymnasts who the coaches believe has done everything they can to be their very best.

Visionary Leadership Award: Ella Sirjord

-The past few years have showcased some incredible out-of-the-gym talents from members of the program. Starting with Mary Korlin-Downs and continuing with Sirjord, the vibrant brand of the team has come to life with extraordinary vision, compelling content and dynamic storytelling. Through various forms of content, Sirjord has been a key contributor to the program's creative content. It's her second straight year winning the award.

Upcoming Events

Players Mentioned

Gianna Gerdes

Mya Hooten

Katie Horak

Emily Koch

Mary Korlin-Downs

Jordyn Lyden

Sarah Moraw

Sophia Nguyen

Lauren Pearl

Ella Sirjord