Coming down the home stretch of Minnesota’s women’s gymnastics team’s season, the chance for a NCAA regional appearance was in doubt.
Then came the final three competitions of the year – duals against Nebraska and Arizona State and the Big Ten Championships.
In those competitions, the Gophers finished with team scores of 196.625, 196.700 and 196.325.
The high team scores canceled out some of Minnesota’s lower scores from earlier in the season and gave them an average regional qualifying score of 196.175.
The high average vaulted the Gophers into the NCAA North Central Regional Championships at Magness Arena in Denver on Saturday.
Minnesota joins No. 2 Stanford (197.645), No. 11 Washington (197.010), No. 14 Denver (196.895), No. 20 Iowa (196.730) and Southern Utah (195.900) at the regional.
“It’s very exciting because all year we’ve felt like we’ve gradually gotten better,” sophomore Laura Johnson said. “This is a meet where we feel like we can compete just as well as the top teams.”
Johnson’s recent performances have keyed the team’s late-season success. The first-team All-Big Ten selection is the team’s top-scoring all-around competitor.
Against Arizona State, her score of 39.525 was the highest of her career and tied for the third-best score in school history.
Senior Mary Skokut, another first-team All-Big Ten honoree, also had a career day against the Sun Devils. In that meet, she broke Minnesota’s balance beam record with a score of 9.975.
Johnson and Skokut’s scores in that dual propelled the Gophers to their highest tally in school history.
But coach Jim Stephenson said it was the team’s lower scores from tough Midwest judges that will be the team’s biggest advantage this weekend.
“We’ve been judged very critically all year,” Stephenson said, “which is something that works in our favor, because we go back in the gym and work on those things that were deductions.”
In addition to peaking at the right time, the Gophers finally have a complete team with the late addition of senior captain Carrie Hortsch, who missed six meets because of an injury.
Coach Meg Stephenson said these factors give Minnesota a legitimate chance to finish in the top two and move on to the national championships at UCLA.
“You can’t hold back,” she said. “If you hold back, you don’t move on.”
