University of Minnesota Athletics
Golden Gopher Honors and Awards
NCAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
ALL-AROUND CHAMPION
Newt Loken - 1942
John Roethlisberger - 1991, 1992, 1993
VAULT CHAMPION
Jim Peterson - 1948
PARALLEL BARS CHAMPION
Bob Hanning - 1940
John Roethlisberger - 1991
Shane Wiskus - 2019
Shane Wiskus - 2021
HORIZONTAL BAR CHAMPION
Newt Loken - 1941
STILL RINGS CHAMPION
(Flying Rings until 1958)
Delver Daly - 1941
Ken Bartlett - 1953
Shane Wiskus - 2021
POMMEL HORSE CHAMPION
Ellis Mannon - 2014
John Roethlisberger - 1993
Clay Strother - 2001, 2002
FLOOR EXERCISE CHAMPION
Clay Strother - 2001, 2002
BIG TEN MEDAL OF HONOR
The Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor is awarded annually at each institution to the student-athlete that demonstrates excellence in both scholarship and athletics. Eleven Golden Gopher gymnasts have won the award, including seven during Fred Roethlisberger's 31-year tenure.
1949 - James Peterson
1961 - Bob Schwarzkopf
1976 - Jeff LaFleur
1978 - Tim LaFleur
1982 - Brian Meeker
1984 - Joey Ray
1986 - Collin Godkin
1993 - John Roethlisberger
1995 - Brian Yee
2005 - Guillermo Alvarez
2019 - Justin Karstadt
ALL-BIG TEN
(awarded to a top six All-American or event champion)
1984 - Rob Brown (first team), Joey Ray (first team)
1985 - Steve Braun (first team), Collin Godkin (first team)
1986 - Rob Brown (first team)
1987 - Steve Braun (first team), Collin Godkin (first team), Mark McKiernan (first team)
1988 - David DeVries (first team), Mark McKiernan (first team)
1989 - Mike Farina (first team), Mark McKiernan (first team), Mike Miller (first team), Brad Pries (first team)
1990 - Jay Caputo (first team), Mark McKiernan (first team), John Roethlisberger (first team), Dan Zimpfer (first team)
1991 - Jay Caputo (first team), Mike Farina (first team), Brian Ottenhoff (first team), John Roethlisberger (first team)
1992 - Kerry Huston (first team), John Roethlisberger (first team)
1993 - Kerry Huston (first team), John Roethlisberger (first team), Brian Yee (first team)
1995 - Brian Yee (first team), Colby Van Cleave (first team), Andrew Weaver (first team)
2001 - Eric Steele (first team)
2002 - Guillermo Alvarez (first team), Eric Steele (first team), Clay Strother (first team)
2003 - Guillermo Alvarez (first team), Clay Strother (first team)
2004 - Guillermo Alvarez (first team)
2005 - Guillermo Alvarez (first team)
2006 - Jake Lee (first team)
2007 - Kit Beikmann (first team), Andre Berry (first team), Jake Lee (first team)
2008 - Mitchell Mays (first team), Kit Beikmann (second team)
2009 - Aaron Fortunato (first team), Kit Beikmann (second team), Russell Dabritz (second team)
2010 - Aaron Fortunato (first team)
2011 - Zack Chase (first team), D.J. Repp (first team), Russell Dabritz (second team)
2012 - Zack Chase (second team)
2013 - Ellis Mannon (second team)
2014 - Ellis Mannon (first team), Zack Chase (second team)
2015 - Ellis Mannon (first team), Steve Jaciuk (second team), Yaroslav Pochinka (second team)
2016 - Tristan Duran (first team), Justin Karstadt (first team), Danny DiBenedetto (second team)
2017 - Justin Karstadt (first team), Alex Wittenberg (first team), Yaroslav Pochinka (second team)
2018 - Tristan Duran (first team), Shane Wiskus (first team)
2019 - Justin Karstadt (first team), Shane Wiskus (first team)
2021 - Shane Wiskus (first team), Crew Bold (second team)
BIG TEN SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
The Big Ten Conference annually awards the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior.
2004 - Mitch Griffin
2005 - Clinton Mays
2006 - Justin Meyer
2007 - Jake Lee
2008 - Matt Altomari
2009 - Alex Quast
2010 - Adam Reichow
2011 - Mike Paulus
2012 - Travis Heaver
2013 - Adam LaFleur
2014 - Justin Morinishi
2015 - Sean Bauer
2016 - Paul Montague
2017 - Mitchell Soukup
2018 - Tristan Duran
2019 - Henry Meeker
2020 - Timmy Kutyla
2021 - Tyler Davis
NISSEN-EMERY AWARD
The Nissen-Emery Award is given annually to the nation's outstanding senior gymnast and is the most coveted award in collegiate gymnastics. The award is named in honor of George Nissen, a three-time NCAA champion at the University of Iowa, for his contributions to the sport and Dr. Bob Emery, the 1969 recipient of the Nissen Award.
1978 - Tim LaFleur
1993 - John Roethlisberger
2005 - Guillermo Alvarez
2015 - Ellis Mannon
2021 - Shane Wiskus
NCAA ELITE 90 AWARD
The Elite 90 (formerly Elite 89), an award founded by the NCAA, recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. The Elite 89 is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s 89 championships.
2013 - Nathan Fortunato
2014 - Nathan Fortunato
2016 - Yaroslav Pochinka
BIG TEN GYMNAST OF THE YEAR
1990 - John Roethlisberger
1991 - John Roethlisberger
1992 - John Roethlisberger
1993 - John Roethlisberger
2017 - Justin Karstadt (Co-Gymnast)
2018 - Shane Wiskus
2019 - Shane Wiskus (Co-Gymnast)
2020 - Shane Wiskus
BIG TEN FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
1990 - John Roethlisberger
1992 - Kerry Hutson
2001 - Eric Steele
2002 - Guillermo Alvarez
2004 - Jake Lee
2007 - Andre Berry
2018 - Shane Wiskus
CGA MVP
2020 - Shane Wiskus
BIG TEN COACH OF THE YEAR
1990 - Fred Roethlisberger
1992 - Fred Roethlisberger
1995 - Fred Roethlisberger
2007 - Mike Burns
2017 - Mike Burns
CGA ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA SCHOLAR ATHLETES
The College Gymnastics Association honored gymnasts as first team All-America Scholar-Athletes for attaining at least a 3.50 grade point average and second team All-America Scholar-Athletes for attaining a grade point average between 3.2 and 3.499.
1991 – John Roethlisberger (first team)
1992 – John Roethlisberger (first team)
1993 – Burton Haun (first team)
1997 – Jason Krob (first team)
1998 – Chad Conner (first team), Matthew Kieffer (first team)
1999 – Chad Conner (first team), Matthew Kieffer (first team), Jason Krob (first team)
2000 – Chad Conner (first team), Justin Conner (first team), Matthew Kieffer (first team)
2001 – Justin Conner (first team), Randal Direen (first team)
2002 – Guillermo Alvarez (first team)
2003 – Guillermo Alvarez (first team)
2004 – Guillermo Alvarez (first team)
2005 – Guillermo Alvarez (first team), Kyle True (first team)
2006 – Eddie Campbell (second team, Adam Reichow (first team), Joe Moore (second team)
2007 – Aaron Fortunado (first team), Thomas O’Brien (first team), Adam Reichow (first team), Kyle True (second team)
2008 – Aaron Fortunato (first team), Thomas O’Brien (first team), Kyle True (first team), Kit Beikmann (second team), Sergei Dmitriev (second team), Colin McGuire (second team), Adam Reichow (second team)
2009 – Aaron Fortunato (first team), Russell Dabritz (first team), Travis Heaver (first team), Thomas O’Brien (first team), Adam Reichow (first team), DJ Repp (first team), Ali Aleiou (second team), Colin McGuire (second team), Michael Paulus (second team)
2010 – Russel Dabritz (first team), Aaron Fortunado (first team), Thomas O’Brien (first team), Michael Paulus (first team), Adam Reichow (first team), DJ Repp (first team), Travis Heaver (second team)
2011 – Russell Dabritz (first team), Travis Heaver (first team), Jessee Moravec (first team), Justin Morinishi (first team), Michael Paulus (first team), DJ Repp (first team), Rosario Cameratta (second team), Zachary Chase (second team), Matthew Frey (second team), Michael Hillin (second team), Adam Kern (second team), Joshua Wokurka (second team)
2012 – Sean Bauer (first team), Russel Dabritz (first team), Adam Kern (first team), DJ Repp (first team), Spencer Smith (first team), Steffen Beck (second team), Ross Cameratta (second team), Travis Heaver (second team), Justin Morinishi (second team), John Scallon (second team), Joshua Wokurka (second team)
2013 – Sean Bauer (first team), Nathan Fortunato (first team), Jack Metcalf (first team), Spencer Smith (first team), Adam Kern (second team), Steven Jaciuk (second team), Justin Morinishi (second team), John Scallon (second team), Joshua Wokurka (second team)
2014 – Sean Bauer (first team), Steffen Beck (first team), Nathan Fortunato (first team), Jack Metcalf (first team), Spencer Smith (first team), Sam Wright (first team), Zack Chase (second team), Daniel DiBenedetto (second team), Steve Jaciuk (second team), Adam Kern (second team), Ellis Mannon (second team), Justin Morinishi (second team), John Scallon (second team)
2015 – Jack Metcalf (first team), Yaroslav Pochinka (first team), Luke Aldrich (first team), Steve Jaciuk (first team), Sean Bauer (first team), Ellis Mannon (first team), Alex Wittenberg (second team), Joel Gagnon (second team), Shashank Yallamraju (second team), Ryan Bergman (second team), Jack Kramer (second team)
2016 – Yaroslav Pochinka (first team), Alex Wittenberg (first team), Justin Karstadt (first team), Ryan Bergman (first team), Joel Gagnon (first team), Zach Liebler (second team), Jack Kramer (second team)
2017 – Luke Aldrich (first team), Ryan Bergman (first team), Joel Gagnon (first team), Vitali Kan (first team), Justin Karstadt (first team), Jack Kramer (second team), Zach Liebler (first team), Yaroslav Pochinka (first team), Ben Winkel (first team), Alex Wittenberg (first team)
2018 – Luke Aldrich (first team), Colton Dee (first team), Joel Gagnon (first team), Russell Johnson (second team), Vitali Kan (first team), Justin Karstadt (first team), Jack Kramer (second team), Timmy Kutyla (second team), Henry Meeker (first team), Yaroslav Pochinka (first team), Ben Winkel (first team), Alex Wittenberg (first team)
2019 – Colton Dee (first team), Vitali Kan (first team), Justin Karstadt (first team), George Khoury (first team), Timmy Kutyla (first team), Henry Meeker (first team), Ben Winkel (first team), Shaun Herzog (second team), Eric Nakamura (second team), Jake Sawyer (second team)
2020 - Tyler Davis (first team), Colton Dee (first team), Henry Meeker (first team), Shane Wiskus (first team), Danny Yoon (first team), Andrew Hyde (first team), Valen Watrous (first team), Crew Bold (first team), Ben Eyles (first team), Jake Sawyer (first team), Russell Johnson (second team), Mike Moran (second team), Eric Nakamura (second team), Victor Perez (second team), David Pochinka (second team), Garrett Kasiski (second team), Timmy Kutyla (second team), Donte McKinney (second team), Matt Sullivan (second team)
BIG TEN DISTINGUISHED SCHOLAR AWARD
In February 2008, Big Ten Faculty Representatives established a new conference academic recognition to supplement the Academic All-Big Ten program. Similar to the Academic All-Big Ten honor, Distinguished Scholar Award recipients must be letterwinners in at least their second academic year at their institution. However, the new award encompasses only student-athletes with a minimum GPA of 3.7 or higher for the previous academic year, excluding summer school. The inaugural award was presented in 2009.
2009 – Aaron Fortunato, Thomas O’Brien
2010 – Russell Dabritz, Aaron Fortunato, Thomas O’Brien
2011 – D.J. Repp
2012 – Nathan Fortunato, Jesse Moravec
2013 – Nathan Fortunato, Jack Metcalf, Spencer Smith
2014 – Steffen Beck, Nathan Fortunato, Jack Metcalf
2015 – Jack Metcalf, Spencer Smith
2016 – Yaroslav Pochinka, Alex Wittenberg
2017 – Luke Aldrich, Ryan Bergman, Justin Karstadt, Yaroslav Pochinka, Ben Winkel
2018 – Justin Karstadt, Yaroslav Pochinka, Alex Wittenberg
2019 – Colton Dee, Justin Karstadt, George Khoury, Henry Meeker, Ben Winkel
2020 – Tyler Davis, Colton Dee, Henry Meeker, Shane Wiskus, Danny Yoon
ACADEMIC ALL-BIG TEN
To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selection, student-athletes must be letterwinners in at least their second academic year at their institution and carry a career grade-point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better.
1987 – Steve Badjusz, Steve Braun, Collin Godkin
1988 – Steve Badjusz, Mike Miller
1989 – Tony Brough, Jay Caputo, Mike Miller
1990 – Tony Brough, Jay Caputo, Mike Miller
1991 – Tony Brough, Jay Caputo, John Roethlisberger
1992 – Tony Brough, Bo Haun, John Roethlisberger
1993 – Bo Haun, John Roethlisberger, Brian Yee
1994 – Bo Haun, Fred Moeller, Brian Yee
1995 – Ryan Carns, Chris Harrington, Brian Yee
1996 – Chris Harrington, Heath Wall
1997 – Matt Kieffer, Jason Krob, Heath Wall
1998 – Chad Conner, Matthew Kieffer, Jason Krob
1999 – Chad Conner, Matthew Kieffer, Jason Krob, Allen Sopko
2000 – Chad Conner, Justin Conner, Todd Guilbeau, Matt Kieffer
2001 – Justin Conner, Todd Guilbeau
2002 – Gabe Suarez
2003 – Joe Alberts, Guilermo Alvarez, Joe Moore, Gabe Suarez
2004 – Guillermo Alvarez
2005 – Guillermo Alvarez, Joe Moore, Kyle True
2006 – Joe Moore, Kyle True, Mark Witmer
2007 – Eddie Campbell, Adam Reichow, Kyle True
2008 – Kit Beikmann, Aaron Fortunato, Colin McGuire, Thomas O’Brien, Adam Reichow, Kyle True
2009 – Ali Aleiou, Kit Beikmann, Aaron Fortunato, Colin McGuire, Thomas O’Brien, Adam Reichow, Cole Storer
2010 – Ali Aleiou, Russell Dabritz, Aaron Fortunato, Travis Heaver, Michael Hillin, Colin McGuire, Thomas O’Brien, Michael Paulus, Adam Reichow, David Repp, Cole Storer
2011 – Ali Aleiou, Russell Dabritz, Travis Heaver, Michael Hillin, Jesse Moravec, Michael Paulus, DJ Repp, Joshua Wokurka
2012 – Steffen Beck, Ross Cameratta, Zach Chase, Russell Dabritz, Nathan Fortunato, Matt Frey, Travis Heaver, Adam Kern, Jesse Moravec, Justin Morinishi, DJ Repp, John Scallon, Joshua Wokurka
2013 – Sean Bauer, Nathan Fortunato, Steven Jaciuk, Adam Kern, Jack Metcalf, Justin Morinishi, John Scallon, Spencer Smith, Joshua Wokurka
2014 – Sean Bauer, Steffen Beck, Zack Chase, Daniel DiBenedetto, Nathan Fortunato, Steve Jaciuk, Adam Kern, Ellis Mannon, Jack Metcalf, Justin Morinishi, John Scallon, Spencer Smith, Sam Wright
2015 – Sean Bauer, Daniel DiBenedetto, Steven Jaciuk, Zach Liebler, Ellis Mannon, Jack Metcalf, Spencer Smith
2016 – Luke Aldrich, Ryan Bergman, Daniel DiBenedetto, Tristan Duran, Joel Gagnon, Jack Kramer, Zach Liebler, Yaroslav Pochinka, Alex Wittenberg, Shashank Yallamraju
2017 – Luke Aldrich, Ryan Bergman, Joel Gagnon, Vitali Kan, Justin Karstadt, Jack Kramer, Zach Liebler, Yaroslav Pochinka, Ben Winkel, Alex Wittenberg
2018 – Luke Aldrich, Joel Gagnon, Vitali Kan, Justin Karstadt, Jack Kramer, Timmy Kutyla, Yaroslav Pochinka, Ben Winkel, Alex Wittenberg
2019 – Colton Dee, Shaun Herzog, Russell Johnson, Vitali Kan, Justin Karstadt, George Khoury, Timmy Kutyla, Henry Meeker, Ben Winkel, Shane Wiskus
2020 – Tyler Davis, Colton Dee, Ben Eyles, Russell Johnson, Timmy Kutyla, Henry Meeker, Eric Nakamura, David Pochinka, Jake Sawyer, Shane Wiskus, Danny Yoon
2021 – Crew Bold, Tyler Davis, Colton Dee, Ben Eyles, Andrew Hyde, Russell Johnson, Garrett Kasiski, Henry Meeker, Mike Moran, Victor Perez, David Pochinka, Matt Sullivan, Shane Wiskus, Danny Yoon
CoSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
2010 – Aaron Fortunato
2018 – Justin Karstadt, Yaroslav Pochinka
2019 – Justin Karstadt
2020 – Colton Dee