No. 14 'U' Travels to Nebraska for B1G Road Test

LINCOLN, Neb. -- The No. 14 University of Minnesota women's gymnastics team (3-1, 1-0 B1G) is preparing for its first Big Ten road home meet of the 2026 season. The Gophers are getting set to take on Nebraska (2-2, 0-1 B1G) on Saturday, Jan. 24 at 3 p.m.

The meet will be hosted at the Bob Devaney Center in Lincoln, Neb., and BTN will televise the event. Evan Heiter (Play-By-Play) and Emma Spence (Analyst) will be on the call.

Minnesota is coming off an upset win over No. 5 Michigan in its conference home opener last week. The Gophers defeated No. 10 Arkansas the weekend before. Minnesota is the only team in the country to register two top-10 dual meet wins in the first three weeks of the season.

MEET INFORMATION
No. 14 Minnesota at Nebraska
Saturday, Jan. 24
3 p.m. CT
Bob Devaney Center
Lincoln, Neb.
TV/Stream: BTN
Commentators: Evan Heiter (Play-By-Play) and Emma Spence (Analyst)
Live Stats: GopherSports.com

WEEK THREE RECAP VS. MICHIGAN

The No. 20 Minnesota gymnastics team pulled its second straight top-10 upset on Saturday afternoon at Maturi Pavilion. The Gophers took down the No. 5 Michigan Wolverines 197.150-196.375. The win was Minnesota's fourth straight over Michigan, dating back to 2024.
The Gophers posted a season-best score of 197.150, the earliest in a season they've gone over 197 in five years (197.025 on Jan. 15, 2021).
The 'U' posted scores of 49.250 on vault, 49.250 on bars, 49.350 on beam and 49.300 on the floor. Michigan went 48.975 on vault, 49.050 on bars, 49.375 on beam and 48.975 on the floor.
Individually, Teryn Crump (9.900) posted a career-high and led the Gophers on vault, Jordyn Lyden (9.925) led on bars and beam while Brooklyn Rowray (9.925) tied her for the top beam score. On the floor, Leah Gonsiorowski posted a season-best 9.900 to lead the Gophers.
Crump took home the vault event title while Lyden won on bars. Michigan's Carli Boozer (9.950) won on beam while Gonsiorowski won on floor.
"I'm just so proud of the girls," said coach Hansen. "We had a great week of practice after our last meet and made a lot of really positive strides. We made some upgrades and had a couple more 10.0 vault start values. We got very close to accomplishing everything we wanted to do today."
Freshman Arianna Ostrum set a new career-best on vault (9.875). Emma Slevin set a career-best on the uneven bars (9.900).

SCOUTING NEBRASKA

The Nebraska Cornhuskers are led by eighth-year head coach Heather Brink. Under her leadership, NU has gone to three straight NCAA Regionals. Last year, the Huskers made the regional semifinals and had four athletes earn All-Big Ten honors. So far in 2026, NU is 2-2 (0-1 B1G) and holds an average of 194.925. They're the 33rd ranked team on Road to Nationals.
After opening their season with wins over UW-Stout and UW-La Crosse on Jan. 10 and a loss to Missouri in a quad meet, the Huskers fell to No. 9 UCLA Jan. 17 in their B1G opener (197.325-195-250). NU was predicted to finish seventh in the Big Ten Preseason Poll.
The Huskers are led by their two Big Ten Gymnasts to Watch, juniors Whitney Jencks and Isabel Sikon. The younger sister of former Gopher Marissa Jencks, Whitney was a Second Team All-Big Ten selection in 2025. 12 times she competed all-around for the Huskers. Sikon, who also competes all-around, participated in every meet last year the team. This is her first year as an all-arounder, where she holds a high of 39.000 in 2026.

LYDEN LIGHTS IT UP

Gophers junior Jordyn Lyden has had a stellar first two years in the program. As a rookie in 2024, she was a Big Ten Freshman of the Week three separate times, competing in every meet. She tied the school record at Penn State in the balance beam, going 9.975.
So far this season, Lyden holds a season-best of 9.925 on bars (Jan. 17 vs. Michigan). She tied her career-highs on beam (9.900) and floor (9.850) vs. Arkansas. She's hit 9.850-or-higher all three bars routines, holding an average of 9.875.
In year two in 2025, she was a staple on the bars and beam teams, leading the team on both and ranking in the top 40 nationally with 9.886 bars and 9.841 beam averages. Lyden went 9.900 seven times on bars in 14 meets, never going below 9.850. On beam, she hit 9.900 five times and has been 9.850-or-better eight times. She ranked second on Minnesota with 12 event titles in 2025 (eight bars, four beam).
Lyden was named to the Big Ten All-Championships Team after going 9.950 on the uneven bars at the Big Ten Championships. She tied for third at the NCAA Regionals with a 9.900 bars score. As a freshman in 2024, she was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week three times.
Lyden earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors in 2025, her first career postseason honor.
Named a Big Ten Gymnast to Watch in 2026, Lyden is one of Minnesota's stars and competes on three events this season.

EVENT TITLES APLENTY

Overall in 2025, Minnesota won 47 event titles in 14 meets. That included 11 vault (by four individuals), 13 bars (three individuals), 12 beam (five individuals) and 11 floor (two individuals).
So far in 2026, the 'U' holds five event titles. Teryn Crump (9.900) won on vault, Jordyn Lyden (9.925) won on bars and Leah Gonsiorowski (9.900) won on the floor vs. Michigan. Arianna Ostrum and Sophie Swartzmiller (9.875) tied for the floor title vs. Arkansas.

WCGA AND ROAD TO NATIONALS RANKINGS

After week three, Minnesota comes in at No. 14 (196.467 avg.) in the Road to Nationals rankings. The Gophers rank 14th on vault (49.050 avg.), 16th on bars (49.025 avg.), 10th on beam (49.183 avg.), and 12th on floor (49.208 avg.).
Minnesota began 2026 ranked No. 15 in the WCGA Preseason poll. They ranked behind only No. 4 UCLA, No. 6 Michigan St. and No. 14 Michigan in the Big Ten.

ROWRAY ROCKING OUT ON BEAM

Junior Brooklyn Rowray is stepping up her game with each week on the balance beam. After tallying a 9.650 in week one at Utah, she's improved her outputs to a 9.850 vs. Arkansas and a 9.925 vs. Michigan. She narrowly missed out on her first event title of the year after UM's Kayli Boozer totaled a 9.950 in their final rotation.

TOP SCORES PER EVENT

Minnesota's top vault and bars performances of the year came on Jan. 17 vs. Michigan, as the Gophers totaled 49.250's on each event.
For the team team, their 49.425 on Jan. 10 vs. Arkansas took the cake. They improved from just a 48.775 team score just eight days prior.
On the floor, Minnesota tallied a 49.300 Jan. 17 vs. Michigan.
Minnesota's team score of 197.150 on Jan. 17 was the earliest in a season the Gophers recorded a 197-or-higher since totaling a 197.025 on Jan. 15, 2021.

THE ONLY TEAM IN AMERICA TO...

Minnesota took down No. 10 Arkansas on Jan. 10 and No. 5 Michigan on Jan. 17. The Gophers are the only team in the nation to win two separate dual meets against top-10 ranked teams so far in 2026.

197 TRACKER

Minnesota (197.150 vs. Michigan) is one of 13 teams to have hit 197 this year. Michigan and UCLA are the only two other Big Ten teams to have done so. Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Missouri, Oklahoma, Stanford and Utah are the others.
Of that group of teams, UCLA, Oklahoma, Missouri, Utah, Florida, Alabama and LSU all made nationals in 2025.

UP NEXT
The 'U' hosts Iowa on Alumni Night, Saturday, Jan. 31 at 4 p.m. B1G+ will stream the meet.

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Players Mentioned

Teryn Crump

Leah Gonsiorowski

Marissa Jencks

Jordyn Lyden

Arianna Ostrum

Brooklyn Rowray

Emma Slevin

Sophie Swartzmiller