This Weekend FOLLOW US. vs. Sports Pavilion Saturday, January 12 6:00 p.m.

Transcription

1 University of Minnesota Athletic Communications 244 Bierman Field Athletic Building, th Avenue SE, Minneapolis, MN GOPHERSPORTS.com This Weekend vs. Sports Pavilion Saturday, January 12 6:00 p.m Schedule & Results January 12 #17 Washington 6:00 p.m. 19 at #16 Penn State 6:00 p.m. (w/ Kent State and Towson) 26 vs. #10 Michigan* 6:00 p.m. (w/ Central Michigan and Iowa State) February 1 at Michigan State* 6:00 p.m. 9 vs. #18 Illinois* 4:00 p.m. 16 Best of Minnesota 6:00 p.m. (w/ Gustavus, Hamline and Winona State) 22 at Iowa* (BTN) 7:00 p.m. 24 at Iowa State 2:00 p.m. March 1 at #3 Florida 6:00 p.m. 9 vs. #7 Nebraska* 6:00 p.m. (w/ #12 Arkansas and Centenary) 16 vs. #14 Ohio State* 6:00 p.m. 23 at Big Ten Championships (East Lansing, Mich.) April 6 at NCAA Regional Championships (TBD) 19 at NCAA Championships (Los Angeles, Calif.) Athletic Communications Director: Garry Bowman Contact: Michael Molde Office: Cell: Fax: molde032@umn.edu /MinnesotaWomensGymnastics FOLLOW The Top 10.0 Things You Need to Know The Gophers open their 2013 regular season against 17th-ranked Washington. It marks the second straight year that Minnesota has opened its home slate against a nationally-ranked opponent. Last year, #18 Ohio State defeated the Gophers by three-tenths of a point Minnesota enters the meet ranked 23rd in the GymInfo Preseason Poll, marking the fourth consecutive year the Gophers have opened a season among the Top 25. Overall, the Gophers have debuted in the Top 25 in 13 of the 15 years that GymInfo has published a preseason poll Meg Stephenson begins her fourth season as head coach of the Golden Gophers after spending the previous 11 seasons as co-head coach with her husband, Jim The Golden Gophers have a wealth of experience, as 22 of the team s 24 routines from 2012 are returning for Among the top returners are juniors Kayla Slechta, a two-time NCAA Championships qualifier, and Dusti Russell, who earned a trip to Nationals last season Senior Janell Campbell will serve as Minnesota s team captain. Campbell is coming off a junior season in which she recorded career-highs on both bars (9.875) and floor (9.900) The last time Minnesota faced a Pac-12 opponent in the regular season (No. 25 Arizona State), the Gophers came away with a first-place finish in a quad meet at No. 17 Denver. The Gophers had a team score of at that meet on March 17, Minnesota s talented sophomore class looks for continued success after a breakout first season with the program in Jenny Covers, Kylie Schermann, and Cierra Tomson are all expected to play major roles for the Golden Gophers Minnesota adds a talented freshman class to the mix, with Madie Hanley, Lindsay Mable, and Hanna Nordquist all expected to make significant impacts The Gophers have meets scheduled against eight teams that open the season among the GymInfo Top 25, including No. 3 Florida and five other nationally-ranked Big Ten teams Minnesota, which was tabbed for fifth in the Big Ten, will look to improve upon its thirdplace finish at last year s Big Ten Championships. Team Comparison Minnesota vs. Washington 23...National Rank *...Regional Qualifying Score * *...Average Team Score * *...High Team Score * (16)*...Regional Qualifying Score (Nat. Rank) (25)* *...Average Vault Score * *...High Vault Score * Kayla Slechta (t-48)...top Performer (Nat. Rank)...Lauren Rogers (t-66) (27)*...Regional Qualifying Score (Nat. Rank) (20)* *...Average Bars Score * *...High Bars Score * Janell Campbell (t-114)...top Performer (Nat. Rank)...Aliza Vaccher (t-104) (21)*...Regional Qualifying Score (Nat. Rank) (23)* *...Average Beam Score * *...High Beam Score * Shannon Golich (t-36)...top Performer (Nat. Rank)...Paige Bixler (t-44) (16)*...Regional Qualifying Score (Nat. Rank) (t-20)* *...Average Floor Score * *...High Floor Score * J. Campbell, Dusti Russell (t-40)...top Performer (Nat. Rank)...McKenzie Fechter (t-82) *2012 Statistics

2 2013 Golden Gophers Name Year Hometown High School/Club Janell Campbell Sr. Germantown, Wis. Germantown/LaFleur s Academy of Gymnastics Justine Cherwink Jr. Aledo, Texas Aledo/Denton Gymnastics Academy Jenny Covers So. Prairie Grove, Ill. Prairie Ridge/Crystal Lake Gymnastics Shannon Golich Sr. Aurora, Ill. West Aurora/Phenom Gymnastics Madie Hanley Fr. Danielsville, Pa. Northampton Area/Parkettes Sarah Lokos Fr. Gaithersburg, Md. Home Schooled/Hill s Gymnastics Lindsay Mable Fr. Aurora, Colo. Eaglecrest/Colorado Gymnastics Institute Hanna Nordquist Fr. Otsego, Minn. Spectrum/Twin City Twisters Dusti Russell Jr. Oshkosh, Wis. Oshkosh West/Oshkosh Gymnastics Kylie Schermann So. Lakeville, Minn. Lakeville North/TAGS South Kayla Slechta Jr. Shakopee, Minn. Shakopee/Classic Gymnastics Cierra Tomson So. Jacksonville, Fla. Seacoast Christian Acad./Gymnastics Unlimited Head Coach: Meg Stephenson (Iowa State, 81) Associate Head Coach: Jenny Hansen (Minnesota, 04) Assistant Coach: Louie Johnson (Minnesota, 95) Volunteer Coach: Jim Stephenson (Iowa State, 73) Student Managers: Megan Alvarez, Hannah Schroeder Athletic Trainer: Emily Whitten (Nebraska, 07) Intrasquad and Debuts Minnesota gave fans a sneak peek of what it has in store for 2013 at its Intrasquad Meet last Saturday, and the Gophers didn t disappoint the nice crowd at the Sports Pavilion by recording a team score of The team total was Minnesota s best-ever at an Intrasquad Meet. In fact, the last time the Gophers recorded a score of more than at an Intrasquad ( on Jan. 3, 2009), they opened the season with a home win versus Arizona the following week. That s also the last time Minnesota opened the season with a win. Big Finish With its third-place finish at last year s Big Pronunciations Golich = Goal-itch Lokos = Loh-kose Schermann = Sure-man Slechta = Slec-tuh Ten Championships, Minnesota snapped a five-year streak of placing outside the Top 3 at the event. Last year s finish was Minnesota s best since winning the title during Performing at a High Level The Golden Gophers surpassed a team total of four times during 2012, which is the most in one season since also reaching that plateau four times during Vaulting Up the Charts Minnesota recorded its third-best team vault score in school history by recording a at the Big Ten Championships. Five Gopher gymnasts had scores of or better to reach the mark Team Scores Date Meet Vault Bars Beam Floor Team Score * - Big Ten opponents $ - Season Best GymInfo Preseason Poll No. Team (1st Pl. Votes) Points Date vs. Gophers 1. Alabama (11) UCLA (5) Florida (10) 644 March 1 -- Away 4. Oklahoma (1) Utah (1) Stanford Nebraska 495 March 9 -- Home 8. LSU Oregon State Michigan 438 Jan Home 11. Georgia Arkansas 421 March 9 -- Home 13. Auburn Ohio State 279 March Home 15. Boise State Penn State 242 Jan Away 17. Washington 212 Jan Home 18. Illinois 192 Feb Home 19. Arizona Denver Missouri North Carolina St Minnesota West Virginia Kentucky 101 Head Coach Meg Stephenson 15th Season -- Fourth season as head coach after being a co-head coach with her husband, Jim, for 11 seasons. -- Started as an assistant coach with the Golden Gophers in 1993 and held position for five seasons. Honors and Awards -- Twice named Big Ten Coach of the Year (1998, 2002) -- Regional Coach of the Year (2002) -- President, National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches for Women ( ) -- Past member of NCAA Women s Gymnastics Committee -- Past member of USAG Board of Directors Coaching Accomplishments -- Two-time Big Ten Champions (1998, 2006) -- Two NCAA Championships appearances (1997, 2002) NCAA Regional appearances -- Coached eight Big Ten individual champions -- Coached four gymnasts to six All-America honors -- Coached two individual NCAA Regional champions -- Coached 49 gymnasts to All-Big Ten accolades GopherSports.com 2

3 Janell Campbell Senior Justine Cherwink Junior Jenny Covers Sophomore 2012 Average RQS High Score Career High Score Average RQS High Score Career High Score Average RQS High Score Career High Score Event Wins Vault Kayla Slechta at Illinois (1.14) Jenny Covers Best of Minn. (2.11) Dusti Russell at Iowa (2.24) Shannon Golich Iowa State (3.10) Jenny Covers Iowa State (3.10) Uneven Bars Janell Campbell Ohio State (1.7) Cierra Tomson Ohio State (1.7) Janell Campbell Penn State (1.28) Lucy Ennis Penn State (1.28) Lucy Ennis Best of Minn. (2.11) Balance Beam Shannon Golich Ohio State (1.7) Dusti Russell at Illinois (1.14) Shannon Golich Best of Minn. (2.11) Dusti Russell at Iowa (2.24) Kylie Schermann at Iowa (2.24) Shannon Golich at Iowa State (2.26) Shannon Golich Iowa State (3.10) Floor Exercise Dusti Russell Ohio State (1.7) Kayla Slechta Michigan (1.21) Kayla Slechta Best of Minn. (2.11) Dusti Russell Best of Minn. (2.11) Janell Campbell Nebraska (2.18) Dusti Russell at Iowa (2.24) Janell Campbell at Iowa (2.24) Dusti Russell at Iowa State (2.26) Janell Campbell Iowa State (3.10) All Around Dusti Russell Ohio State (1.7) Dusti Russell at Illinois (1.14) Kayla Slechta Best of Minn. (2.11) Dusti Russell at Iowa (2.24) Dusti Russell Iowa State (3.10) GopherSports.com 3

4 Shannon Golich Senior 2012 Average RQS High Score Career High Score Madie Hanley Sarah Lokos GopherSports.com 4

5 Lindsay Mable Hanna Nordquist Dusti Russell Junior 2012 Average RQS High Score Career High Score GopherSports.com 5

6 Kylie Schermann Sophomore 2012 Average RQS High Score Career High Score Kayla Slechta Junior 2012 Average RQS High Score Career High Score Cierra Tomson Sophomore 2012 Average RQS High Score Career High Score GopherSports.com 6