THIS WEEK: The eighth-ranked Minnesota men’s gymnastics team hosts the annual alumni meet on Saturday, March 29 at 7 p.m. The meet will be held in Cooke Hall in the gymnastics training facility on the third floor. Admission to the exhibition competition is free and open to the public.
THE LAST TIME OUT: The Gophers took second place, but earned their season-high score with a 351.500 against Big Ten rivals Illinois and Iowa. On floor exercise, Minnesota tallied a 60.000, the team’s best floor score in the 2008 season. The top scorer for the Gophers was Cole Storer, who earned a 15.300 to tie his best score of the year and place second in the event. Kit Beikmann was the top Gopher performer on pommel horse, earning a 14.600 to place third. The Gophers tallied 57.500 on rings, led by senior Sergei Dmitriev, who placed fourth with a 14.500, his best score in 2008. Top-ranked Mitchell Mays was the vault winner, earning a 16.550. Cole Storer was the runner up on vault, finishing second with a 15.950, his best vault score of the season. Mays and Storer led Minnesota to a team score of 64.100, a season high and the team’s best event score of the meet. Minnesota captured an event title on parallel bars as well, as Sergei Dmitriev tallied a 15.000 to match his best score of the year and tie for first place in the event. As a team, Minnesota had a total of 58.600 on parallel bars, the best of the season. In the final rotation, the Gophers tallied a 56.250 on high bar, led by Cole Storer, who earned a 14.400 to place third.
POLL POSITION: The Golden Gophers remained at No. 8 in this week’s edition of the GymInfo National Rankings. All six Big Ten teams continue to be ranked among the nation’s top 10 this week, with Penn State dropping to the No. 3 spot. Illinois is listed at No. 5, Michigan is No. 6, Ohio State is No. 7, and Iowa is No. 10. In the event rankings, the Gophers’ highest ranking is No. 3 on vault. Minnesota is also ranked in the top 10 on floor exercise (No. 7), high bar (No. 8), parallel bars (No. 8), and sits just outside the top 10 as the nation’s No. 11 team on still rings and pommel horse.
RANKED GOPHERS: Five Minnesota gymnasts are listed in the national rankings this week. Senior Mitchell Mays holds the highest individual ranking among the Gophers. He remains the No. 1-ranked gymnast on vault this week. Junior Kit Beikmann is ranked No. 4 on pommel horse, while sophomore Aaron Fortunato is ranked No. 13 in the all around. Sophomore Cole Storer is ranked No. 16 on the floor exercise and No. 19 on the high bar. Senior Sergei Dmitriev is ranked No. 18 on the parallel bars.
UP NEXT: The Gophers will travel to Penn State for the Big Ten Championship on April 4-5. The conference meet will be telecast on the Big Ten Network. More information about the championship is available on the Penn State athletics website at www.gopsusports.com.
