Men, women show vast improvement

In the Gophers men’s gymnastics team’s first home meet since the NCAA Championship last year, they showed that they may still have some unfinished business from a season ago.
Minnesota appeared right at home at the Sports Pavilion, winning with a score of 343.250, while Arizona State finished behind the Gophers with 316.650 points. Washington ended the meet in third with 293.650 points .
Apparently, few things have changed since these three teams faced each other last season, with Minnesota taking the meet as well (Calgary also competed).
Senior Aaron Fortunato, who won the all-around, said that the meets against Arizona State and Washington are always fun.
“It’s cool because one of the ASU guys here is from Minnesota, so we get a lot of fans here,” he said. “It’s always just a fun meet, and it’s always a relaxed one.”
The entire team also had a lot more success this week than they had at the Windy City Invitational , improving in all events with the exception of the rings.
Minnesota head coach Mike Burns said the team has improved on the pommel horse and parallel bars, but there’s still room for improvement.
“Pommel horse we did a little better than last week, but I’m not happy with it,” Burns said.
Burns also said that right now they’re already training for the end of the year, and they’ve got the routines that they can handle.
“I don’t want to pull the plug yet and dumb-down on the routines,” he said. “I think we’ve got the routines we can handle.”
Women also excel
After a difficult weekend in Nebraska, the Gophers women’s gymnastics team made big improvements just in time for their first Big Ten head-to-head meet.
Minnesota improved in all four events, besting No. 19 Michigan State with 195.350 points. Michigan State finished with a score of 193.350.
On the uneven bars, the Gophers improved their score from last week by .175 points. They also welcomed back an unfamiliar face on the bars who helped boost the score.
Junior Jamie Bullock was back on the bar lineup for the first time since injuring her foot during the 2007 season. Bullock scored an impressive 9.85 on the bars.
Bullock said that she was ready to return to the team because she is “a competitor.”
“I love competing, so I don’t get nervous,” she said. “It’s what I love to do.”
Minnesota head coach Meg Stephenson was impressed with more than Bullock’s bar routine.
“She’s just a really amazing athlete and competitor,” Stephenson said.
The team’s success was influenced by the length of time they had to practice this week compared to last week, Stephenson said.
“We had four days instead of two,” she said. “It was really nice to be able to go back to basics and clean a few things up.”
The Gophers will see another Big Ten opponent next weekend, with a Saturday meet scheduled to start at 6 p.m. against Penn State and Alabama in State College, Pa.