The Gophers women’s gymnastics team travels to Ann Arbor, Mich., for their first Big Ten competition of the season Saturday.
And if the in-conference match-up weren’t enough to get Minnesota excited for this meet, facing its second top-five nationally ranked opponent in as many weeks should be.
“We’re starting off our Big Ten competition by jumping right into the fire with Michigan, who is ranked No. 5 in the nation and No. 1 in the conference,” Gophers co-head coach Jim Stephenson said. “We’ve got another big challenge in front of us, but it’s something that we look forward to.”
Two weeks ago Saturday, Minnesota traveled to No. 2 Utah. The meet with the Utes featured a rowdy crowd of 10,000-plus, by far the largest crowd of the year for the Gophers. But Minnesota, who currently sits with a national ranking of No. 29, did not back down and were neck-and-neck with one of the top teams in the country until the very end.
The Gophers ended up losing the meet 197.750-194.100, but more importantly finished with their second-highest score of the season against the very best competition.
This matters for Minnesota because in collegiate gymnastics, the final score means more than a victory. The NCAA gymnastics national rankings are decided by each program’s average score, not wins and losses.
“What we’re taking from Utah is that if we can perform as well as we did there with so many fans and distractions, then we can perform well anywhere,” Stephenson said.
The other important test this weekend for the Gophers, Stephenson said, is that Michigan is also hosting the Big Ten championships later this season, which will give Minnesota an advantage having performed there earlier in the year.
“We will go into Michigan and get a good familiarity with the town, the arena, the facility and what it’s like to compete there,” Stephenson said. “It should be a real benefit for us later on in the season.”
The Gophers continue to be led in all-around competition by junior Carmelina Carabajal, who will be counted on heavily if Minnesota intends to come out on the other side of the score sheet compared to their last meet with a top-five team.
“She (Carabajal) continues to show success on every event, which can be seen through her high conference and national rankings,” Stephenson said.
Men return home
The No. 8 ranked Gophers men’s gymnastics team returns to the Sports Pavilion after two-consecutive weekends away for a Saturday night meet with No. 13 Illinois-Chicago, a program that Minnesota faced earlier in the season.
In their first match-up during the Jan. 12 Windy City Invitational, the Gophers were able to put out the Flames 340.350-332.050.
“They (Illinois-Chicago) are always a formidable foe,” Minnesota head coach Mike Burns said. “But one of their top guys has mono, so that should impact their ability to compete at a high level.”