Minnesota earned its first conference loss of the season—and lost the conference regular season title—to Michigan at the second session of Elevate the Stage on Saturday night. The No. 11 Gophers aren’t phased though. With five back-to-back high-196 scores in a row, the team feels confident.
“They’re a great group, and they’re really committed,” head coach Jenny Hansen said. She noted that the team got on board quickly this summer, and they practice how they perform.
“We’ve been really consistent in practice and in meets, and they’ve gained a lot of confidence from that,” she said.
Minnesota’s elevation into a postseason conversation squad comes from its strong underclassmen. “They come into practice every day with a mission and a plan, and every turn they treat like competition,” Hansen said. That attitude has filtered to the rest of the team.
One of those underclassmen, sophomore Lexy Ramler has upped her performance this year. “I’m more confident in my gymnastics, and I feel like I can perform out. I’m really enjoying it and having a great time,” she said.
Ramler debuted her Yurchenko one and a half—which she also performed in J.O.—this season. She said she stuck to the full last year to gain confidence, but this year she found herself thinking, “I want more.”
Ramler isn’t the only Gopher enjoying herself; Hansen credits enjoyment for the sport with the team’s strong performances. “When you’re having more fun, you just relax a little bit, you smile, you enjoy what you’re doing, and that just shows through their performances. They’re really just having fun,” she said.
Minnesota will get two more chances to take on Michigan this season, at a quad meet at Missouri in March and at the conference championship. Before then, Hansen is going to be thinking about fine-tuning the beam lineup. “We’ve got a strong beam group, but we’re still figuring out who is going to be in there and who is going to be confident when they go.”
Ramler’s focus? “Always remember to take in the moment with my team because this is an awesome experience.”
Article by Emily Minehart
