Gophers Best Boise State, Fall to UCLA and Washington at Wasatch Classic
MINNEAPOLIS – The University of Minnesota women’s gymnastics team finished with a score of 196.325 – good for third place – at the Wasatch Classic on Saturday night.
UCLA finished first with a score of 197.850, Washington finished second with a 196.550, Minnesota in third and Boise State in fourth with a score of 195.050.
Outstanding
In another impressive outing, freshman Seria Johnson completed her first career all-around performance with a combined score of 39.350. That score tied him for fourth among all-around competitors.
Junior Gianna Gerdes also scored a 39.350 in the all-around, bettering her score of 39.025 from Minnesota’s best meet last weekend. Included in her all-around score was a new career high on bars, as she scored a 9.875 in Utah on Saturday night.
In a night that included several personal bests, sophomore Marissa Jencks set new career highs on both bars and floor, scoring 9.900 and 9.850, respectively.
Quotable
“The team has made great progress from last week’s performance,” said head coach Jenny Hansen. Bars and floor performed at a really high level tonight and we had some new people in the lineups and gained some invaluable experience.”
DISTRIBUTION OF THE EVENT
VAULT
The Maroon and Gold finished with a score of 49.075 on vault, with juniors Mya Hooten and Johnson leading the way with scores of 9.875 and 9.825, respectively. Freshman Sarah Moraw made her Maverik Center vault debut, scoring a 9.800. Senior Halle Remlinger also added a 9.800 to the team score. Redskins senior Maddie Quarles rounded out Minnesota’s lineup with a score of 9.325.
FIGURES
The Gophers had a strong outing on bars in the second rotation, with Jencks (9.900), Gerdes (9.875) and Hooten (9.950) each setting new career highs in the event. Tying her ribbon personal best was Remlinger, adding a 9.875 to the team score. Johnson added a 9.750 on bars to her overall score, and fifth-year senior Tiarre Sales scored a 9.150.
beam
Johnson scored a 9.875 on the beam, which bested her beam score of 9.750 at the Best of Minnesota meet last Friday. Gerdes finished with a 9.825 in the event, while Moraw once again scored a 9.800 on the beam. Junior Emily Koch also scored a 9.800, beating her beam score from last weekend. Hooten and freshman Brooklyn Rowray finished with scores of 9.050 and 9.200, respectively.
floor
The Gophers finished the night strong with their floor performance, with Hooten leading the way with a 9.925 and Johnson capping off her first all-around performance with a 9.900 on her first floor routine. Gerdes finished her all-around score with a 9.875 on floor, and Jencks and Koch both scored 9.850 (a new career high for Jencks). Remlinger scored a 9.775 on the final rotation of the night.
The next one
The Gophers will travel back to Minnesota to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions a week from today – Saturday, January 21st – at Maturi Pavilion at 4:00pm CT for their Big Ten opener.
