In their regular-season finale, the No. 8 Gophers scored 197.850, which ties their second-highest score in program history, en route to dominating Utah State (195.200), Temple (193.625) and Long Island (193.200) to finish first in the quad meet in front of a record attendance of 4,240 at Maturi Pavilion.
“We’re just so proud of the team. We went into this meet knowing there would be a lot of excitement and energy. The crowd certainly brought that for us tonight. I think they did a good job of handling that and the emotions that come along with senior night,” Gophers head coach Jenny Hansen said. “We’re continuing to get better in different areas. I feel like we’re making progress each and every week and just at the right time.”
Minnesota saw strong team performances from every lineup, highlighted by their floor team that put on a show and scored the highest total ever recorded in program history at 49.750 as all five of their scoring routines earned at least 9.900.
The floor team, which closed out the meet, was led by sophomore Mya Hooten, who scored her third perfect 10 this season and fourth of her career to win the event title. There was a trio of 9.950s from fifth-years Lexy Ramler and Ona Loper, and junior Halle Remlinger. Loper tied her career-high score and Remlinger earned her career-best. Sophomore Gianna Gerdes rounded out the rotation tying her career-high of 9.900.
“We just had so much fun out there today. We just continue to climb and build our confidence,” Ramler said of the floor team.
Loper and Ramler’s last collegiate meet at the Pav helped Minnesota sweep all the event titles as the duo tied for the all-around title at 39.650. Loper won the vault title (9.925), while she and Ramler shared the bars title (9.900) with Long Island’s Mara Titarsolej. Ramler also won the beam title after earning 9.950.
The vault team set the tone early at the Pav as four of their five routines scored over 9.850 en route to a collective total of 49.300, helping Minnesota to ride their momentum throughout the remainder of the meet.
Rotations two and three for the Gophers saw the bars and beam teams perform as they totaled 49.425 and 49.375, respectively. All five scoring bars routines scored at least 9.875, while four scoring beam routines earned at least 9.875.
Hooten tied her career-best on bars at 9.875, while Gerdes tied her career-high on beam from March 4 at 9.875.
Just moments after competing officially with the bars team, Ramler performed her coined “Ramler” bars routine in exhibition for the first time in her Gophers collegiate career.
The “Ramler” is an extremely difficult routine, highlighted by a full-twisting-toe-on Shaposhnikova. After falling off the bars in warmups attempting her routine, Ramler pulled off the routine with no major faults to unofficially score 9.825, electrifying the crowd.
“It felt awesome. I was super excited to do it in front of the Pav. I could hear the roar of the crowd,” Ramler said. ”I had a smile on my face the entire time [during the routine]. That honestly made my senior night just to be able to do that skill in front of my home crowd. That was something that I will forever remember.”
With their regular-season complete, Minnesota will compete next in the Big Ten Championships on Saturday, March 19.
The Gophers are clicking at a perfect time as their last three meets have been their highest-scoring team totals in program history.
“[We feel] very good. We came a long way from the first couple of meets and I think we finally got it down. We’ve been working really hard in the gym,” Hooten said. “We are so excited [for Big Tens]. We’re so ready.”
