Minnesota rode the momentum from last weekend’s victory at Michigan State to another solid performance, as it beat Ohio State on
Saturday.
The Gophers outperformed the Buckeyes in all four events, winning 196.325-194.550. Junior Lindsay Mable earned her fifth consecutive all-around crown with a score of 39.5 while also placing first in two of the four events.
“I’m really happy with how the girls did. We had a great meet last week, and we just kind of kept the momentum going,” interim head coach Jenny Hansen said.
Mable started her strong all-around performance scoring a 9.9 on vault, with teammate Bailey Gardner recording a 9.8.
Despite a strong performance on the vault, Hansen said she still sees areas for improvement.
“We’re still working to get a little bit stronger on vault and stick a couple more landings,” Hansen said. “This time of the year, we’re confident in hitting our routines. Now, it’s just the little things.”
Junior Hanna Nordquist led Minnesota with a meet-best 9.9 on the beam. Her teammates, Mable and Madeline Hanley rounded out the top three.
“[Nordquist] has been so consistent, and we have no doubt that she’s going to rock it,” Mable said.
Minnesota finished the meet by dominating the floor exercise. Tomson’s score of 9.9 was the highest score on the floor until Mable stole the show. She posted the highest individual score with a 9.95 and ended the night with a bang.
“She does routines like that every day in practice, so it was nice to see her go out and perform like she does in practice,” Hansen said.
Men’s team falls
As injuries and illness overtook the Gophers this week, the team looked for some gymnasts to step up on Saturday.
But No. 4 Illinois showed no mercy against the No. 10 Gophers, winning 435.200-419.800.
The Gophers started poorly, scoring team totals of 67.6 and 67.05 on the floor and pommel horse, which were their worst two events.
“We bombed on the first two events,” head coach Mike Burns said. “The guys were embarrassed and mad at how they started.”
The team bounced back with strong and consistent performances on the rings, vault and parallel bars with senior Ellis Mannon scoring a near-perfect score of 14.95 on the parallel bars.
“Ellis had a fantastic routine. There were of couple mistakes, but it was at an elite level,” Burns said.
Despite Illinois’ poor performance on the high bar, it had at least one gymnast who posted a perfect score or better on every other event.
The Illini’s best event was rings, where they had three gymnasts who scored higher than a perfect score of 15.
After the loss and numerous falls during routines, Minnesota will need to regroup by next weekend.
“It’s easy to look at falls, but [the] team’s attitude is big,” junior captain Paul Montague Jr said. “Attitudes are infectious, and we can’t let falls get to us.