Although the No. 9 Gophers saw strong team performances from each of their lineups for a second consecutive meet, their efforts fell short against No. 4 Utah Friday evening
as they lost by a score of 198.575-197.850. The team total marks the second-highest score in program history behind the 198.025 Minnesota set on Feb. 25.
“It was so much fun. This was an environment that we were really looking forward to competing in. Utah is a perennial powerhouse. Just the environment, the energy was fantastic,” Gophers head coach Jenny Hansen said. “I’m just so proud of the way the team rose to the occasion, second-highest score in school history. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Fifth-year Ona Loper led the way for Minnesota as she scored 39.675. Her best score of the evening came on vault at 9.950, while she tied her career-high on beam (9.925).
Loper’s all-around score of 39.675 earned her a share of the all-around title with Utah’s Grace McCallum, a member of Team USA’s 2020 Olympic Gymnastics squad that won a silver team medal.
Loper’s fifth-year counterpart in Lexy Ramler also highly contributed to Minnesota’s high team score as she totaled 39.575 in the all-around competition, highlighted by a 9.950 on beam.
The Gophers’ floor team was their best lineup of the evening as they produced 49.550 as four routines scored at least 9.900. Ramler, junior Halle Remlinger and sophomore Mya Hooten earned matching 9.925s, marking the third-consecutive meet Remlinger has tied her career-high. Loper and sophomore Gianna Gerdes rounded out the rotation, scoring 9.900 and 9.875, respectively.
The only Minnesota lineup that defeated a Red Rock lineup was the vault team, as they totaled 49.450, the second-highest score they have recorded this season. Hooten highlighted the lineup as she tied her career-best of 9.975 to win the event title, while sophomore Emily Koch earned her career-high after scoring 9.875.
The Gophers’ beam team closed things out and showed out for a second-consecutive meet as they scored a season-best 49.475.
Outside of Loper and Ramler, a few highlight routines from the beam team came from senior Tiarre Sales, who scored 9.900, and Gerdes as she recorded 9.875, a career-high.
“We do feel like everything is starting to click. The last two weeks, our beam team has been amazing and exactly as we had hoped they would be,” Hansen said of the beam team that is striding back to form. “They didn’t look nervous. They did exactly what they’ve been doing in practice…that’s exactly what we wanted from them, especially on that last event.”
The bars team totaled 49.375 to round out the Gophers’ meet, highlighted by Sales’ 9.925, which is her season-best and ties her career-high.
Minnesota’s National Qualifying Score (NQS) will increase due to the 197.850 team score on the road. The NQS takes the average of each team’s best five scores outside their highest, where three of those have to be from away meets.
As a result, Minnesota will drop the 196.225 team total they scored in a tri-meet on the road against Maryland and Pittsburgh from their NQS.
“It’s huge for us. We get to drop a 196.225 and count this score instead,” Hansen said. “This is exactly what we needed for our team and going forward. The confidence we gained from a performance like this, especially on the road in an environment that was so loud, was so much fun…the confidence we gained from this today is immeasurable.”
