Many fans at Maturi Pavilion wore pink during Minnesota’s annual Always Dreaming Meet on Saturday, a meet to raise awareness of cancer.
Those fans had a lot to cheer about. Minnesota (2-0, 2-0 Big Ten) defeated Michigan State (0-3, 0-2 Big Ten)196.075-194.925.
Freshman Lexy Ramler finished first in the beam event, receiving a score of 9.95. It was the highest score of the season for any Gophers gymnast in any event. Ramler finished first all-around for the second consecutive meet, earning a score of 39.45.
“I ended up with a win, so [the meet was] even better,” Ramler said.
Freshman Ona Loper finished first in the floor and vault exercises. Loper earned a score of 9.9 on both her vault routine and her floor routine. She said she was excited to compete for the Gophers for the second time.
“As a freshman, you don’t know what to expect here,” Loper said. “Having the support of the team is really helping.”
Sophomore Ivy Lu finished first in the bars event, receiving a score of 9.9. Senior Hannah Hitchcock broke a personal record in the vault event with a score of 9.85. Senior Abby DeMuse made her season debut and earned a score of 7.7 on her vault routine.
Head coach Jenny Hansen said she felt great about the team’s performance and wasn’t surprised that Ramler finished first in all-around.
“[Ramler is] a wonderful athlete,” Hansen said. “She’s super consistent and she does that every day in practice. She is [definitely] a perfectionist and wants to do everything she can as perfect as she can every time.”
Minnesota finished first in each event. The Gophers had three gymnasts earn a score of 9.9 or higher — Loper, Lu and Ramler.
Loper said it was great to see fans come out and support Minnesota and a good cause. She hopes this meet will inspire girls to try gymnastics.
“Everyone was having a fun time,” Loper said. “Allowing other girls to experience the same type of love is exciting.”
Minnesota’s next meet will be Saturday at 3 p.m. against Ohio State and Illinois State in Columbus, Ohio. The Gophers next home meet will be on Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. against Illinois.
Hansen said the team is excited to hit the road for their next meet. She said there isn’t a huge difference between competing at home and competing away from Maturi Pavilion.
“The great thing is it’s the exact same routines we’ve been doing,” Hansen said. “It’s just in a different venue [and] a different atmosphere. We’re going to practice different things in the gym. I think [the team is] ready to take this show on the road.”
