Senior Lindsay Mable capped off her Gophers career with a slew of awards.
Mable earned First Team All-American honors on the uneven bars, floor exercise and all-around at the NCAA Championships in Fort Worth, Texas, over the weekend.
Minnesota finished in 12th place and did not advance past the semifinal round, but the team combined to win five All-American awards, the most in a single season in program history.
Senior Hanna Nordquist was a First Team All-American on the balance beam, and Mable also earned second team honors on the vault.
“During the meet it was hard not to think about each routine being the last routine, but I really tried not to think about it just in hopes of enjoying every moment possible and not making it out about being the end,” Mable said.
Mable also won the American Athletic, Inc. award on Thursday before the competition. The award is given to an outstanding senior gymnast as voted by all of the college coaches. She is the first Minnesota gymnast to win the award.
After winning the award, Mable tied for fourth in the uneven bars with a score of 9.900, tied for ninth on the floor with a 9.8875 and placed fifth in the all-around with a 39.5375.
“She had a fantastic night. We just felt happy for her to finish on such a high note,” head coach Jenny Hansen said. “The seniors did awesome … and I’m so happy for them that they got to finish their career here at the National Championships and end so well.”
Mable also tied for 17th on the vault with a 9.875. Nordquist took fourth on the balance beam with a 9.9125.
“You always wish for the day, your senior moment,” Nordquist said. “It was super exciting. I was the calmest I’d ever been in my college career, and I think that just really helped me.”
The Gophers as a team competed in the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2013 and scored 194.9875 points. Minnesota finished last in its session and had the lowest meet score overall.
“We are so pleased with our season,” Hansen said. “We accomplished so many goals [with] the Big Ten regular season championship and qualifying to nationals. Those were our two main goals going into the season, and we did just that.”