One week ago, Lexy Ramler was honored as the Big Ten Gymnast of the Year. The next afternoon, Ramler competed at the Big Ten Championships, claiming the Big Ten beam title and a share of the all-Around title. Four days later, she became an All-American. 

Now, Ramler has her sights set on the next hurdle, the NCAA Championships. 

Ramler was the only Gophers’ gymnast to qualify for the 2018 NCAA Championships as an individual, finishing sixth on the balance beam and 19th in the all-around. Her performance earned her second-team All-American honors. 

“Having that experience under my belt, it helped me realize that I have that potential,” Ramler said. “[It helped] me feel comfortable with that much pressure but also get a little taste of what it’s like to be at the championships.”

“She did great at the NCAA Championships last year,” head coach Jenny Hansen said. “She really belonged there and I think it was a great testament to all the work she has put in up to this point, but she’s even better this year.”

Ramler has steadily climbed the national rankings this season. She is currently slotted as No. 9 in the all-around, No. 4 on balance beam and No. 14 on the uneven bars. 

“She’s got incredibly high standards and she’s not satisfied with good; she wants to be great,” Hansen said. “She has beautiful form and execution; she’s a wonderful dancer and those are things that take a lot of time and precision to get to. … She had great training all the way up to here and it shines at this level.”

The St. Michael, Minnesota, native put her stamp on the Gophers’ record books throughout the season, claiming the top all-around score in program history with a 39.725 against Maryland on Feb. 15. The sophomore also added the third-highest score in in Gopher history on the balance beam and the all-around as well. 

Now, Ramler looks to become an NCAA regional champion for the first time in Gophers’ history since 2016 and the first NCAA national champion since 1990 when Marie Roethlisberger claimed the uneven bars title.

While Ramler is focused on her individual performance, she is also focused on helping her teammates and how they perform as a whole on April 4. The trait has blossomed this year as she has grabbed a bigger leadership role, being the only gymnast to make it to NCAA championships a year ago. 

“I think she’s taken on more of a [leadership] role,” Hansen said. “Not only doing what she needs to do but helping the team be their best, which is really important because we want the whole team to get there. She needs them to do everything they can.” 

The Gophers will head to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on April 4 for the NCAA regionals, which will determine if the Gophers are one of the eight teams that will advance to the championships in Forth Worth, Texas. The team looks to rebound from a disappointing Big Ten performance where they came in fourth following a mistake on beam that caused them to fall out of contention for the title. 

“We are coming off a meet that wasn’t our best,” said Hansen. “We are even more fired up knowing that we have more in us yet… It’s very much how we respond. I want us to come back and respond even better.”