This Week: Oklahoma The Gophers host their final home meet of the regular season when Oklahoma comes to town. The meet against the Sooners will begin at 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 22. Minnesota’s senior class of three: Amanda Miles, Ashley Mutchler and Ashley Stanton will be honored at the meet. Live scoring, as well as a live webcast for the meet will be available on www.gophersports.com.
Coming Up Next Week: the Big Ten Championships
The seven Big Ten women’s gymnastics teams will square off at the 2008 Big Ten Championship, which will be hosted at Michigan this year. The meet will take place in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Saturday, March 29 at 2 p.m. (1 p.m. central). The Big Ten Network will televise the championship, which will be broadcast on a tape-delay basis. The championship will air on April 3 at 7 p.m. (central).
National Rankings
Despite earning a season-best score last weekend, Minnesota dropped one spot to No. 25 in the GymInfo National Rankings this week with an RQS of 194.665. The Gophers are ranked No. 41 on vault, No. 19 on bars, No. 19 on beam, and No. 31 on floor.
The Big Ten Watch
The Big Ten Conference is traditionally strong in women’s gymnastics, and the 2008 season is no exception. This week, six of seven Big Ten teams are ranked among the top 25 nationally.
Gophers Earn Best Score at West Virginia
Minnesota earned its highest team score of the year in the quad meet at West Virginia last Saturday with a 195.375. The team’s previous best score was a 194.950 at Iowa State on March 2.
Leading the Way
Carmelina Carabajal owns or is tied for the team’s top score in all four events plus the all around this season. She’s tied with Jamie Bullock for the best vault score (9.825), is tied with Kristin Furukawa for the best bars score (9.875), owns the top beam score (9.925), and owns the top floor score (9.875). She also leads the way in the all around with a best score of 39.300.
Carabajal has the team’s best average score on all four events: 9.766 on vault, 9.734 on bars, 9.768 on beam, and 9.802 on floor. In the national rankings, Carabajal is ranked No. 28 in the nation in the all around with an RQS of 39.195. She’s also listed at No. 27 on beam with an RQS of 9.860.
Winning Ways
Seven Gopher gymnasts have won event titles this season, earning a total of 29 titles between them. Minnesota has the most event titles on beam with eight. The Gophers have also claimed seven titles on bars, five titles on floor, four in vault, and four in the all around.
Carabajal has the most titles this season, winning 19 event titles so far, including six on beam, four on vault, three on bars, two on floor, and four in the all around. Kristin Furukawa has three event titles this season, all coming on bars. Angela Walker has two event titles to her name this season, with both of her titles coming on floor. Ashley Stanton has two balance beam titles this season. Amanda Miles has won one floor title, Jamie Bullock has one vault title, Yuri Nagai has one bars win.
Stanton and Carabajal Lead Beam Team
Minnesota’s beam team has earned two scores over 49.0 this season, a 49.175 against Illinois-Chicago (2/23) and a 49.225 at Iowa State (3/2). Minnesota is ranked No. 19 nationally on beam, and its top two team event scores of the season have both come on beam.
Senior Ashley Stanton has placed among the top three on beam in eight of 11 meets this season, including wins in two meets. She has led the team on beam at four meets. Against Illinois-Chicago (2/23), she matched her career-best beam score with a 9.900 to place second in the event. In the GymInfo National Rankings this week, Stanton is tied for No. 42 on beam with an RQS of 9.840.
Junior Carmelina Carabajal is Minnesota’s top-ranked gymnast on beam, listed at No. 27 this week. Carabajal has been the team’s top scorer on beam eight times this season.
Gophers Tally Best Floor ScoreB The Gophers earned their best floor score of the 2008 season with a 49.050 at West Virginia last weekend. Minnesota earned a floor score of 49.0 or higher for the second consecutive week. All five of the scores that counted toward the top floor score of 49.000 were 9.800 or higher. Amanda Miles was the team leader on floor, earning a 9.850 to match her personal-best score and tie for second place overall. The foursome of Carmelina Carabajal, Ashley Mutchler, Alexis Russell and Angela Walker each earned marks of 9.800. Mutchler’s score was her personal best.
Freshmen Bolster Bars Line up
Minnesota regularly competes with three freshman in the bars line up, and the results have been impressive this season. The Gophers tallied a 49.075 on bars against Illinois-Chicago, the best bars score since the 2006 season. The Gophers also scored a 49.075 on Feb. 4, 2006 at New Hampshire. While the Gophers never scored over 49 on bars last season, they have surpassed the 49 mark twice so far this season.
Furukawa Steps up on Bars
Freshman Kristin Furukawa has competed on bars in all 11 meets this season, and has been the team’s top scorer at four competitions. She has the squad’s second-best average score with a 9.684, and has the team’s best RQS on bars with 9.810 to rank No. 72 nationally.
The Opponent: Oklahoma
The Sooners are ranked No. 9 in the GymInfo National Rankings this week, and are undefeated so far this season at 17-0. Last weekend, OU tied its season-high team score of 196.750 in defeating Arkansas (196.625) on the road.
The Gophers: Breakdown by Event
Vault: Carmelina Carabajal owns five scores of 9.825 this season, and has five event titles to her name this season. Carabajal has been the team’s top performer on vault at nine competitions this season, and has the team’s best average score on vault with a 9.766. Jamie Bullock notched her personal-best vault score with a 9.825 at the Best of Minnesota (2/9). At Michigan (2/16), Jade Beattie has been the team’s top scorer on vault twice this season, and has tallied her personal-best score of 9.800 twice this season. Minnesota’s top vault score is a 48.775, earned in the meet at Iowa State (3/2).
Bars: Freshman Kristin Furukawa was the winner on bars against Illinois-Chicago (2/23) with a 9.875, and was also the event winner at Iowa (2/29) with a 9.850. Furukawa is tied with Carmelina Carabajal for the team’s top bars score this season. Furukawa has the team’s second-highest bars average (9.684), and has the best bars RQS on the squad (9.810). Carabajal earned her career-best 9.875 at the Best of Minnesota (2/9). Carabajal has the team’s best average score with a 9.734 average. Yuri Nagai had the team’s best bars score against New Hampshire, a 9.650 to place second overall. Nagai set her personal best with a 9.825 at the Best of Minnesota (2/9). Nagai won her first bars title, tying with teammates Carabajal and Furukawa for first with a 9.750 against North Carolina (3/7). Minnesota’s top team score on bars is a 49.075 and came in the dual meet with Illinois-Chicago (2/23).
Beam: Carmelina Carabajal owns the team’s top beam score this year, a 9.925 earned against UIC last Saturday. Carabajal has the team’s best average beam score, a 9.768. Carabajal tallied a 9.900 at Iowa State (3/2) and a 9.875 at home against Iowa State (1/26), giving her three of the team’s top five scores of the year. Ashley Stanton also owns two of the team’s top five scores on beam, with her best score (9.900) coming in the meet against UIC (2/23). Stanton also notched an event-winning 9.875 at Michigan (2/16). As a team, Minnesota’s top team score is a 49.225, scored against Iowa State (3/2). Angela Walker matched her career-high score on beam with a 9.875 against UIC (2/23).
Floor: Carmelina Carabajal owns the top floor score of the year with a 9.875 vs. UNC on March 7. She also earned a 9.850 against Illinois-Chicago (2/23) and again at Iowa State (3/2). Carabajal has an average floor score of 9.802 to lead the team. Amanda Miles has competed on floor at eight meets this season, missing three meets with a foot injury. In her eight performances, she led the team four times, and owns three scores of 9.850 this season. Alexis Russell matched her career-high floor score of 9.825 against UIC (2/23). Against Iowa State on Jan. 26, Angela Walker set her career-high mark on floor with a 9.850 to place second against North Carolina (3/7). Minnesota tallied its best team score on floor (49.050) at West Virginia on March 15, where all five of the Gophers’ counting scores were 9.800 or better.
