Lindsay Mable delivered a dominant performance at the Sports Pavilion on Saturday, winning four events and tying for first on a fifth as the Gophers won their fifth consecutive meet.
The senior gymnast took the all-around title with a score of 39.550 as Minnesota defeated Illinois 195.775-195.000.
“There were a lot of highlights,” head coach Jenny Hansen said. “We weren’t as crisp as I was hoping we would be today. We spoke with the team afterwards, and we asked them how they felt, and they said, ‘We are so much better than that.’ That made me feel good knowing we all feel the same way.”
Mable tied with junior Bailey Abernathy and Illinois junior Giana O’Connor on the vault with a 9.800, but after that, no one could match her.
She won the uneven bars with a score of 9.875, the floor exercise with a 9.925 and the balance beam with a career-high 9.950.
Her beam score also broke the Minnesota program record in the event.
“I finally felt like this was a much more normal me,” Mable said. “The past two meets I’ve been thinking a lot. I’ve been trying to make everything too perfect and trying too hard to make it happen. I think I finally stepped back and realized you just have to let it happen.”
The Gophers had an overall beam score of 49.250 on Saturday, which was the sixth highest in team history.
Senior Hanna Nordquist tied for second in the event with a 9.875, and sophomore Ciara Gardner tied for fourth with a score of 9.850.
Men win at Air Force
The No. 4 Gophers won their third consecutive meet at No. 10 Air Force, putting up the highest score in team history.
Minnesota scored a record 438.500 points in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Saturday, while Air Force scored 424.950 and also put up season-high scores on pommel horse and vault as a team.
The Gophers scored 72.450 points on the pommel horse, with freshman Justin Karstadt taking second with a 14.950. Senior Paul Montague Jr. took fourth in the event by scoring a 14.800.
Sophomore Yaroslav Pochinka won the vault with a 15.550, and junior Zach Liebler took second with a 15.500. The Gophers scored 74.800 as a team.
Lieber also won the floor exercise for the third consecutive meet with a score of 15.550, and sophomore Alex Wittenberg was right behind him with a 15.400.
Sophomore Tristan Duran won still rings with a score of 14.650, and Montague Jr. won the Gophers’ last event title of the day by scoring 14.950 on the high bar.
