The No. 13 Minnesota women’s gymnastics team is getting set for the 2026 NCAA Regional Finals on Sunday night in Corvallis, Ore. They’ll take on No. 4 UCLA, No. 5 Alabama and No. 12 Utah with the top two scores destined for a spot at nationals on April 16. Sunday’s meet will be at 7 p.m. CT/5 p.m. PST, steamed on ESPN+.
The Gophers (23-7, 7-2 B1G) finished second in the Big Ten regular season standings and took third at the 12-team Big Ten Championships before placing second (196.975) behind UCLA (197.450) at Friday’s regional semis.
MEET INFORMATION
No. 12 Minnesota vs. No. 4 UCLA, No. 5 Alabama and No. 12 Utah
Sunday, April 5
7 p.m. CT/5 p.m. PST
Gill Coliseum
Corvallis, Ore.
TV/Stream: ESPN+
Commentators: Jason Ross (Play-By-Play) and Kennedy Baker (Analyst)
Live Stats: GopherSports.com
EVENT ROTATION ORDER
Minnesota: Floor-Vault-Bars-Beam
UCLA: Vault-Bars-Beam-Floor
Utah: Beam-Floor-Vault-Bars
Alabama: Bars-Beam-Floor-Vault
2026 SEASON SYNOPSIS
• The Minnesota gymnastics team enters Sunday’s meet with a 23-7 (7-2 B1G) record. They’ve competed against a difficult schedule far, but have posted an 11-5 record against top-25 ranked teams.
• After going 1-1 in their first meet at No. 5 Utah and vs. Iowa, Minnesota took down consecutive top-10 ranked opponents in No. 10 Arkansas and No. 5 Michigan at home. They also won Feb. 14 at No. 16 PSU for their first road win.
Following a loss at NU on Jan. 24, Minnesota won with consecutive 197+ performances with a 197.050 win over Iowa and a 197.275 in a defeat to No. 5 UCLA.
• The Gophers defeated Washington in their meet on Feb. 20, winning 196.950-196.300 to earn their second straight road win.
• Minnesota had its second-best performance of the season March 1 at the Big 4, scoring a Big Ten-best 197.700. Bars, beam and floor had their best scores of the season and Arianna Ostrum won the all-around, bars and floor titles.
• The ‘U’ fell at North Carolina on March 6, 197.200-196.925. Ostrum won the all-around title while Lyden won on beam. Minnesota struggled on vault and floor during the meet but had a great beam performance (49.475).
• March 15 was the performance of the season with a 197.825. Arianna Ostrum hit a perfect 10 on vault and won vault, floor, AA titles, Lyden won on bars/beam and Slevin tied for the bars title with a 9.950.
• In Friday’s regional semifinal, Minnesota came from behind to finish second behind UCLA. They trailed Iowa by almost two tenths before going 49.450 on beam to punch their ticket to Sunday’s regional final.
• The ‘U’ holds 42 event titles this year across 12 meets, led by freshman Arianna Ostrum with 13 and junior Jordyn Lyden with 11.
• Minnesota ranks 13th overall in the Road to Nationals rankings, placing 15th on vault, 17th on bars, 12th on beam and 14th on the floor.
• The ‘U’ is 9-1 at home this year, 2-3 on the road and 12-3 at neutral sites.
NCAA REGIONAL SEMIFINALS RECAP
• The No. 13 Minnesota gymnastics team placed second at the NCAA Regional Semifinals on Friday night with a score of 196.975. With its second place finish, the Gophers clinched their fifth Regional Finals (Sweet 16) appearance in the last six seasons.
• Minnesota trailed Iowa most of the night, including by .175 heading into the final rotation. The Gophers stellar beam score outlasted Iowa on vault as the ‘U’ punched its ticket to the regional finals.
• The Gophers earned 49.125 on vault, 49.400 on bars, 49.450 on beam and 49.000 on floor.
• Brooklyn Rowray’s 9.925 beam score helped her win the regional title outright and she’ll head to nationals as an individual if Minnesota does not make it as a team.
• Teryn Crump hit a new season-high with a 9.900 on the uneven bars. Jordyn Lyden hit a 9.950 on bars, tying her season-high and seventh 9.900-or-higher score on the event this year. Emma Slevin had her sixth 9.900-or-better on bars.
LYDEN LIGHTS IT UP
• Junior Jordyn Lyden had her best year yet to earn All-Big Ten honors for the second time in her career. Also a 2025 Second Team All-Big Ten selection, Lyden ranks in the top-15 in the conference on bars (9.883 avg., 3rd), beam (9.806 avg., 7th) and floor (9.883 avg., 10th). She earned 11 total event titles (six bars, three floor, two beam), ranking second on Minnesota.
• Lyden hit career-bests on both beam (9.950) and floor (9.950) this season and held a season-best of 9.950 on the uneven bars. She went over 9.900 seven times on bars, six times on beam and four times on floor. Twice she earned Big Ten Event Specialist of the Week honors.
• Her honors in 2026 include First Team All-Big Ten, Big Ten All-Championships Team, Big Ten Bars Champ and 2x B1G Specialist of the Week.
• Last year, Lyden was named to the Big Ten All-Championships Team after going 9.950 on bars at the Big Ten Championships. She tied for third at the NCAA Regionals with a 9.900 bars score. As a freshman in 2024, she was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week three times.
NCAA REGIONALS HISTORY
• Minnesota made NCAA Regionals for the 45th time in program history (30th straight) this year in Corvallis. The Gophers hold two regional titles, which came in 1980 and 1982. In 12 years with coach Hansen in charge, they’ve made 11 regionals (no postseason in 2020 due to COVID).
• Under Hansen, the Gophers have advanced out of regionals three times, making nationals in 2016, 2021 and 2022 with second place finishes. The Gophers went on to finish sixth at nationals in 2022, their best finish in program history.
• Last year was Minnesota’s 29th straight season making NCAA Regionals.
• The last three seasons, Minnesota has made the NCAA Regional finals. They’ve done so in five of the past six seasons, one of just two Big Ten programs to do so (UCLA).
• In 2022, the then No. 8 University of Minnesota gymnastics team competed in the Norman Regional and earned a score of 197.725 to advance to the NCAA National Championships. Minnesota entered the final rotation trailing Cal for the second position to qualify for nationals. The Gophers recorded a meet-best 49.650 to send them to Texas. Mya Hooten led the Gophers with a nearly flawless 9.975 on floor.
• Also in 2022, Minnesota qualified for the NCAA National Championships as a team for the sixth time ever. The Gophers also earned a spot in the championship meet in 1997 (10th-place finish), 2002 (ninth), 2013 (eighth), 2016 (12th) and 2021 (eighth). 2022 marked the first time in school history that the Gophers qualified for the NCAA Championships as a team in consecutive years.
• In 2021, the No. 8 Gophers punched their ticket to NCAA Nationals after placing second in the Athens Regional Championship. The Gophers posted a 197.425 and were second only to Florida who had a team score of 197.700. Then freshman Mya Hooten had a huge performance for the Maroon and Gold, posting a 9.950 on floor and vault. All four of four-year All-American Lexy Ramler’s routines earned a 9.900 or above from the judges. Ramler had a 9.950 on beam, 9.925 on bars and a 9.900 on both vault and floor.
OSTRUM MAKING A B1G IMPACT AS A ROOKIE
• Named one of College Gym News’ Freshmen to Watch, Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., native Arianna Ostrum has became one of the biggest rising stars in the conference this year on her way to All-Big Ten First Team, Big Ten All-Freshman Team and Freshman of the Year accolades. She was also named WCGA Second Team All-America on vault and all-around, just the third Gopher freshman in history to earn All-America nods.
• Ostrum led Minnesota with 13 event titles in 2026, including five on vault, four on floor, three all-around and one bars. She ranked 15th nationally (39.275 avg.) all-around, 3rd on vault (9.850 avg.) and 30th on floor (9.846 avg.).
• In the Big Ten, she ranked 3rd on vault, 7th on floor, sixth all-around and 16th on beam. She became the second Gophers freshman and eighth all-time to earn a perfect 10 on vault when she did so on March 15. She earned 9.875-or-higher seven times in 12 vaults this year.
• On bars, she posted a season-high of 9.925 to win an event title on March 1. On beam, Ostrum twice reached a high of 9.925. Her floor performances had her reaching 9.900-or-better six times, including the last four meets of the year. Ostrum hit a career-best 9.975 on the event Sunday. Nine times in 12 meets Ostrum competed all-around, including the last seven meets of the year. She hit a season-best of 39.675 on March 15, winning all-around, vault and floor titles. Her 39.675 all-around score is the best in program history for a Minnesota freshman.
UP NEXT
If the ‘U’ finishes in the top two again on Sunday, they will head to nationals in Fort Worth, Texas, from April 16-18.
(info and photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)
