Gophers gymnastics’ sophomore Mya Hooten quickly took the collegiate scene by storm last season with her breathtaking floor routine, but it is anything but just that this year.
Hooten, originally from Woodbury, Minn., ranked tied for No. 4 in the nation last season on floor after averaging a score of 9.898, highlighted by a perfect 10 against Nebraska to become the first Minnesota gymnast in the program’s history to achieve this feat.
After Hooten’s freshman season, Gophers head coach Jenny Hansen allowed the program’s rising superstar to create and perform a new floor routine for her sophomore campaign.
Then came Gophers assistant coach Geralen Stack-Eaton to assist Hooten in the process, the mastermind behind creating her new floor routine over the summer of 2021.
In her eighth season with the Gophers, Stack-Eaton always wanted to choreograph a routine with a Beyoncé song. This time around, Hansen granted her wish as Hooten needed a new floor routine.
“I really liked how Mya’s floor routine last year got a lot of attention,” Stack-Eaton said. “I was like, ‘We got to make it so much better this year, so it can even go more viral.’”
As the creative process got underway for Stack-Eaton and Hooten, they wanted to make the floor routine meaningful.
Brainstorming various ideas, Stack-Eaton quickly thought of different social issues in the Twin Cities.
Over recent years, Minnesota has been at the forefront of many of these issues — the murder of George Floyd (2020) and the killings of Philando Castile (2016) and Daunte Wright (2021) — that have caused nation-wide protests.
With these issues in mind, one song from Beyoncé’s catalog fit perfectly.
Stack-Eaton proposed to Hooten that she perform her floor routine to Beyoncé’s “Freedom” from her live performance at Coachella in 2018, where the artist became the first-ever Black woman to headline at the yearly music and arts festival.
Hooten quickly accepted the proposal as a no-brainer. She, along with Stack-Eaton, is a huge fan of Beyoncé.
“The message behind ‘Freedom’ spoke volumes. I was like, ‘We should definitely use this’ and Hooten agreed,” Stack-Eaton said. “She was like, ‘This is going to be amazing.’”
But while the two collaborated, they wanted Hooten’s routine to be more than just her performing to “Freedom” — so they decided to choreograph an energetic performance that also included underlying messages of empowerment throughout it.
Hooten opens up her floor routine, acting as a drum major on one knee with a whistle to signify the start of her performance.
Quickly, Hooten performs her first pass as she sprints diagonally across the floor to complete a roundoff, back handspring and 1/1 in tucked position skill, which she said is her hardest pass, before switching sides to complete her popa.
The sophomore phenom dazzles the crowd moments before sprinting diagonally across the floor another time to finish her second pass, where she completes a front handspring, front 1/1 with a pike. Then, the symbolism begins.
“After my second pass, I’m pushing away the people who don’t like the Black community,” Hooten said. “After that, I cover my mouth because sometimes you don’t have a voice. Then I get down on my knees, I’m getting arrested and I’m breaking the chains.”
After breaking the chains, Hooten gets up and “she’s free.” She then bends over and throws a few punches before walking off, where she hits her chest and then raises her fist in the air “because I’m proud of being Black,” she said.
To close out her routine, Hooten runs diagonally across the floor to finish her third and final pass, where she completes a roundoff, back handspring topped off with a double tuck, leaving the starstruck crowd on their feet at Maturi Pavilion.
Hooten debuted her new floor routine for the Gophers in their season-opener, scoring a 9.900 when they hosted UCLA and Iowa on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
“I got chills the entire time she did the routine the first time at the Pav,” Stack-Eaton said. “It’s just an incredible moment. I’m really so proud of Mya and how she’s been able to capitalize on this message.”
A week later against Michigan, Hooten earned the second perfect 10 of her career on floor, helping the Gophers set a new program-record floor team total at 49.725.
All of this wouldn’t have been possible without everyone, spanning from the leadership group at Minnesota to Hooten’s teammates, as they all collectively supported each other regarding social issues through uncomfortable conversations that were sometimes difficult to have.
Throughout last season, the Gophers donned “stronger together: together for change and unity” t-shirts after the murder of Floyd, a traumatizing time for many. The team wanted to bring awareness in light of Floyd’s recent death and better themselves, speaking volumes to where they want to go as a program and culture.
In February 2021, sophomore Ella Sirjord created a “stronger together” Instagram video with messages and words from a handful of athletes on the team with an overall pledge to listen, learn, act and take a stand against racial injustices.
“It opened a lot of people’s minds. We did have those hard conversations. It was really good for everyone to finally talk about things that they’ve struggled with or been through, and I think that was really good for the team,” Sirjord said. “We were all vulnerable at some points. It grew us as a team. I feel like, after having these hard conversations, we’re a lot closer.”
As fans continue to pack the stands at Maturi Pavilion throughout the season, Hooten wants them to recognize from her routine that while equality has progressed, that progression is not yet over as there’s still a need to push for change.
“She’s the true storyteller. I just wanted to try to make that come to life,” Stack-Eaton said of Hooten’s routine. “My hope is just to continue to have her inspire people and understand the message she is trying to portray. I think she’s done a phenomenal job so far.”
