The Gophers finished with an eighth consecutive victory in the final home meet of the season.
No. 19 Minnesota tallied a team score of 196.200, the second-highest total of the season, to defeat Winona State University, Hamline and Gustavus at the Best of Minnesota Meet at the Sports Pavilion Saturday afternoon.
“There were a lot of highlights,” head coach Jenny Hansen said. “Vaulting wasn’t as quite as good as I was hoping for tonight, so that was a little disappointing, but a lot of kids are coming through and doing what we’ve been practicing, so that’s been really fun to see.”
Lindsay Mable won three events in the last home meet of her college career. She started her night off with a 9.875 on vault and a first-place finish.
She won her second event on the uneven bars with a score of 9.925. Sophomore Abby DeMuse placed second with a 9.875.
“Bars the last four years has been the most improved for me, so to go above a 9.9 was really special,” Mable said. “I’ve been working really hard to try and build my confidence and fix the little things in the routine, and to finally put it together was really special.”
Rachel Haines led the Gophers during the third rotation on the balance beam. The senior stuck her landing and scored a 9.875 to win the title. Senior Hanna Nordquist notched a 9.850 to finish as the runner-up.
“It was awesome. We had a ton of people here, which is always good for us,” Nordquist said. “All the hype and loud voices helps us.”
Mable closed out the meet with a 9.950 on the floor exercise, which drew a standing ovation as she walked off the mat.
“We’ve got to start sticking those landings a little bit more,” Hansen said. “We’re a great floor team. We [usually] have four or five kids hit, but not all six, and that’s what we need on that event and really on all of the events. We just need everybody to be on.”
Men compete at No. 1 Oklahoma
The No. 4 Gophers fell to No. 1 Oklahoma 447.550-431.100 Saturday evening in Norman, Okla., in the team’s first competition after a week off.
Minnesota had three gymnasts score higher than a 15 on the vault in its best event of the night.
Freshman Michael Harris scored a 15.000 to finish fifth in the event, junior Zach Liebler took fourth with a 14.050 and sophomore Yaroslav Pochinka won the Gophers’ only individual title of the night with a 15.250.
The Sooners outscored Minnesota in every other event, and the Gophers lost the meet.
