The University of Minnesota men’s gymnastics team is ranked No. 7 in the preseason edition of the GymInfo Coaches’ Poll. With four returning All-Americans and the 2007 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, the Gophers are looking forward to another successful season.

The Big Ten will once again prove to be a tough conference in 2008, with all six conference teams listed among the top nine in the preseason poll. Penn State is the top-ranked team in the league, listed at No. 2 in the preseason poll.

The Gophers will kick off their 2007-08 season with the Intrasquad Meet on Dec. 2 at the Sports Pavilion. The team’s first regular-season competition will be the Windy City Invitational in Chicago, Ill., on Jan. 12. Minnesota will host its first home meet on Jan. 26 against Calgary. In addition to Calgary, the Gophers will also host Illinois-Chicago, Nebraska, Temple, and Iowa at the Sports Pavilion in the 2008 season.

In 2007, Minnesota advanced to the team finals at the NCAA Championships for the first time since 1990, earning a sixth-place national finish. Five Gopher gymnasts, Kit Beikmann, Andre Berry, Jake Lee, Adam Reichow, and Cole Storer, earned All-America acclaim, setting a program record for the most All-Americans in a single season.

The Gophers also improved in the Big Ten ranks in 2007, finishing third. Head coach Mike Burns was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year, while Andre Berry was dubbed the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Kit Beikmann was the Big Ten Champion on pommel horse, becoming the first Gopher gymnast to win the conference pommel horse title since John Roethlisberger won it in 1991.