Heading into its meet — against Iowa State, Michigan State and University of Wisconsin-Stout — Minnesota had only finished first once on the road in four tries.
The Gophers’ only road victory came on Feb. 16 at the GymQuarters Invitational in St. Louis. That stayed the case after Friday.
Minnesota finished second with 194.425 points. Iowa State finished in first place with 195.775 points in Ames, Iowa.
“We had a great week of practice, so I though we would carry that over to our meet tonight,” head coach Jenny Hansen said. “We had mistakes, way too many mistakes and [they] caught up with us.”
Sophomore Ivy Lu finished in fourth on bars, receiving a score of 9.850. Lu finished first in Minnesota’s last two meets. Freshman Lexy Ramler finished second, receiving a score of 9.900.
Sophomore Kristen Quaglia received a score of 9.775 on vault. That score tied her career high on vault. Ramler tied for first with a score of 9.875.
Quaglia said she was excited about her results on vault.
“Vault has been something I’ve been working in the gym,” Quaglia said. “I’m proud of myself. However, I know there’s more in me, which is awesome.”
On beam, Ramler tied for first, receiving a score of 9.900. Freshman Ona Loper received a score of 9.750 on floor. Freshman Lexi Montgomery made her debut on vault. She received a score of 9.600.
Montgomery said she wasn’t very nervous before competing in floor for the first time.
“I’ve been practicing each week on improving my floor routine,” Montgomery said. “It was a great opportunity for me to be able to get out there and show it to everybody else.”
Two of No. 19 Minnesota’s last three meets will be on the road. Hansen had difficult conversations with the team after the most recent away meet.
“We talked about how we need to make change,” Hansen said. “We’re capable of more than our performance tonight.”
Minnesota returns home for its next meet against Arizona State on March 3 at 4 p.m. It will be Minnesota’s senior night. Quaglia said that any team has hiccups during the season.
“It’s how we learn from those hiccups that is going to be the best thing for our team,” Quaglia said. “We become better athletes and better gymnasts because of it.”
