Mya Hooten won individual Big Ten titles in three events
The Minnesota Golden Gophers finished in second place at the 2024 Big Ten Gymnastics Championships in East Lansing last weekend. Minnesota earned a team score of 197.500 and were just one tenth of a point behind the back to back Big Ten Champion Michigan State Spartans who scored a 197.600. Senior Mya Hooten was the individual star for the Gophers as she tied for Big Ten titles on vault with a score of 9.975, floor with a 9.950, and uneven bars with a score of 9.925. For her career Hooten is now a three-time Big Ten floor champion (2022-24), two-time vault champion (2023-24) and now an uneven bars champion. The Gophers earned one additional co-champion as sophomore Sarah Moraw won her first Big Ten title with a 9.925 on the beam.
Minnesota started the competition on bars and showed off when the lights where the brightest. Minnesota posted their best score of the season as a team on the bars with a 49.375 Hooten led the way with a 9.925, while Gianna Gerdes scored a 9.990, and Seria Johnson, Ellla Sirjord and Jorden Lyden all recorded 9.850s.
Next up was beam where Minnesota would post their third highest score of the season with a 49.475. Moraw led the way with her 9.925, followed by a trio of 9.900s from Lauren Pearl, Katie Horak, and Sirjord. Emily Koch and Gerdes each scored a 9.800 to round it out.
The floor is the Gophers best even and once again they did not disappoint. They recorded a team total of 49.475 led by Hooten’s 9.950. Gerdes was second with a 9.925, tying her career-high. Pearl and Leah Gonsiorowski each scored 9.875 and Koch and Johnson added 9.850s.
Finally the Gophers finished on the vault. It was their lowest scoring event of the meet with a 49.225. Hooten again led the Gophers with a nearly perfect 9.975. Moraw scored a 9.875. Gerdes and Marissa Jencks each scored 9.800 and Sophia Nguyen rounded out the scoring with a 9.775.
A total of 39 athletes earned places on the Big Ten All-Championship team based on their scores with a program record six Gophers named to the list in Mya Hooten, Gianna Gerdes, Katie Horak, Sarah Moraw, Lauren Pearl and Ella Sirjord.
On Monday the Gophers found out their NCAA Tournament fate. The Gophers were given the #15 national seed and will heat to the Fayetteville Regional hosted by the University of Arkansas. There the Gophers will compete in one session on April 4th with #2 LSU, #18 Oregon State and the winner of the play-in matchup between Boise State and BYU. The top two teams on Thursday will advance to Saturday’s regional final where they will be joined by the top two scoring teams from the other regional semifinal featuring #7 Arkansas, #10 Kentucky, #24 Arizona and Nebraska. The top two teams from the Regional Final on Saturday will advance to the NCAA Championships in Fort Worth on April 20th along with the top individual performer in each event on a team that does not advance.