The Gophers women’s gymnastics team placed third at the NCAA Denver Regional Semifinal on Friday, putting them just one place short of advancing.
The Maroon & Gold finished their night with a team-score of 197.200 as they competed with No. 3 Michigan, No. 13 Denver and Arizona.
“This is a team with a lot of new people and a lot of new routines in our lineup, and we feel like we’ve grown a lot this season and we look forward to next year and also look forward to a whole new class joining us,” head coach Jenny Hansen said.
The Gophers started their night on bars, where in the team’s very first routine of the evening, freshman Seria Johnson led the Gophers with a career-high mark of 9.900. All-Big Ten First Team member Gianna Gerdes competed in the all-around and added 9.900 to the team’s total.
Minnesota competed on the beam next, where freshman Sarah Moraw and fifth-year senior Abbie Nylin each earned a score of 9.850, a season-high for Nylin. Sophomore Lauren Pearl and junior Emily Koch both finished with a 9.825 before Gerdes and Tiarre Sales capped off the event for the Gophers, finishing with a team score of 49.150.
In what was the Gophers’ strongest event of the night, Gerdes and Halle Remlinger each scored 9.925 on floor. Mya Hooten and Johnson each finished with a 9.900, followed by Marissa Jencks and senior Mallory LeNeave, who each added a 9.850 to the team total of 49.500.
On the vault, Hooten and Maddie Quarles earned back-to-back 9.925s in the Gophers’ final two routines. Gerdes ended her all-around day with a 9.825. Moraw and Remlinger both scored 9.800, and Jencks finished with a 9.700, to round out the final team score of 59.500.
“We’re really proud of the way the team performed tonight,” Hansen said. “We knew we had a little bit more in us tonight that we think would have helped us qualify for the next day, but overall, this was one of our highest scoring meets of the year.”
