The No. 10 Minnesota gymnastics team placed second at the NCAA Regional Semifinals on Thursday afternoon with a score of 197.200. The Gophers, along with No. 5 UCLA, will advance to Saturday’s Regional Finals against the top two scores of tonight’s session.
“This is a great accomplishment for the team,” said head coach Jenny Hansen. “This day is always a little nerve-wracking because you want to move forward, but you gotta do your job. For us, we did the job and were very consistent. We hit all of our routines and I’m just really proud of the team. They looked calm, relaxed and really confident.”
No. 5 UCLA (197.750) placed first in the meet while No. 24 Southern Utah (196.475) took third and Boise State (195.175) placed fourth.
The Gophers earned 49.150 on vault, 49.375 on bars, 49.325 on beam and 49.350 on floor.
Event winners were UCLA’s Jordan Chiles on vault (9.950), beam (9.950) and floor (9.975). Minnesota’s Jordyn Lyden and Ava Stewart tied with UCLA’s Frida Esparza and Emma Malabuyo with 9.900 bars scores to tie for the title. Brooklyn Rowray (9.900) placed in a tie for second on beam while Mya Hooten (9.925) took third on the floor. The all-around winner of the day was UCLA’s Jordan Chiles (39.600).
Heading into Saturday’s meet, the Gophers will be trying to put together their best performance of the season in hopes of advancing to nationals for the first time since 2022.
“We’re focused on the details,” Hansen said. “We have to be hitting our routines like we have been, but it’s the stuck landings and going after every little tenth that you can at this point of the season.”
EVENT BREAKDOWN:
VAULT
The Gophers started out the meet with a 49.150 team score on vault. Sarah Moraw paced the Gophers with a 9.875 while Mya Hooten came right after her with a 9.850. Megan Steensland tied her second-best vault score of the year with a 9.825 while Teryn Crump and Ava Stewart rounded out the top five with 9.800 tallies. After one rotation, Minnesota was in second place behind only UCLA (49.500).
BARS
Minnesota had a successful showing on the uneven bars, posting a 49.375 team score. Jordyn Lyden and Ava Stewart led the group with 9.900 scores while Mya Hooten earned a 9.875 to come in the No. 3 spot. Lyden and Stewart tied for the event title with two student-athletes from UCLA. Teryn Crump and Marissa Jencks (season-high) each went 9.850 to round out the group. It was Lyden’s seventh 9.900-or-better score of the year and the fourth for Stewart. The Gophers remained in second place (98.525) behind only UCLA (98.950) after two rotations.
BEAM
The Maroon and Gold tallied another solid rotation, this time with a 49.325 score on balance beam. Brooklyn Rowray paced the group with a 9.900 performance, her second-best total of the season. Jordyn Lyden came right after her, anchoring the team with a 9.875. Emily Koch, Lauren Pearl and Ava Stewart all earned 9.850s to complete the top five. Minnesota headed into the final rotation in second place with a 147.850, behind only UCLA’s 148.250.
FLOOR
The ‘U’ finished off the meet with a 49.350 on the floor. Mya Hooten led the group with a 9.925 from her anchor spot, followed by Leah Gonsiorowski went 9.875 for the second spot. Emily Koch, Marissa Jencks, Lauren Pearl and Sophie Swartzmiller tallied 9.850s to round out the group.
NOTABLE:
-Marissa Jencks hit a season-high on bars with a 9.850.
-Brooklyn Rowray paced the beam team with a 9.900, her second best score of the year (9.950 at Ohio State on Feb. 16).
-Mya Hooten went 9.925 on floor, 9.850 on vault and 9.875 on the uneven bars. Mya took third on the floor, behind only two UCLA Bruins. She’ll find out later tonight if she’ll get the chance to advance to nationals on floor as an individual.
-Jordyn Lyden went 9.900 on bars to tie for the event title, her ninth on the event this season. It was her seventh time going 9.900-or-better, all in the last eight meets.
-Ava Stewart tied for the team-lead with a 9.900 bars score. Her and Lyden could potentially go to nationals as individuals in the event.
-Sarah Moraw went a team-best 9.875 on vault, which tied for her second-best tally of the season on the event.
-It’s the fourth time in the last five years Minnesota has advanced to the Regional Finals (Sweet 16).
UP NEXT
Minnesota will compete in the NCAA Regional finals on Saturday night at 6 p.m. CT/5 p.m. MT on ESPN+. The Gophers and UCLA will compete with the top two scorers of tonight’s session to see which teams will go to Nationals on April 17-19 in Fort Worth, Texas.
(info and stock photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)
