Michigan dazzled the gymnastics world last week, winning session two of the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad behind a program-record—and national-leading—49.650 on beam. The historic rotation featured three 9.950s from Quincy Walters, Ava Jordan, and Kayli Boozer, plus five stuck dismounts, including Jahzara Ranger’s double tuck. Michigan went on to post a 197.225, comfortably defeating California, Kentucky, and Michigan State and sending a clear message to anyone questioning its postseason potential.
Since winning the national title in 2021, Michigan’s results have fallen short of expectations, making last week’s performance a meaningful step toward rewriting that narrative. The Wolverines showed balance across all four events, scoring 49.000 or higher on each. Vault, as is typical early in the season, left room for improvement—landings were not pristine, and the team counted two Yurchenko fulls in its total. Still, the priority this week will be proving that the breakout showing was not a fluke or a byproduct of generous judging.
Host Minnesota enters with momentum of its own after upsetting No. 10 Arkansas last week, improving its season-opening score by 1.3 points to finish with a 196.775. Beam fueled the comeback, allowing the Gophers to erase a deficit, tie Arkansas, and ultimately pull ahead on floor. Head coach Jenny Hansen has noted that every athlete in the beam lineup is capable of a 9.900, and three reached that mark last week—Jordyn Lyden, Sarah Moraw, and Gianna Gerdes, who earned a career-high 9.925.
Minnesota will look to sustain that momentum at home. Even if the Gophers do not secure the win, posting another strong score will be critical, as the five lowest home scores now count toward NQS.
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Rotation 1: Minnesota VT, Michigan UB
Welcome to this Saturday afternoon Big 10 match-up. Minnesota won both meetings between these teams in 2025.
Stewart (MINN) Canadian Olympian Ava Stewart performs a Yurchenko 1.5 with good height and distance, and only a small step on landing. Great opening! 9.850
Jordan (Mich) Blind half to straddle Jaeger, slightly past vertical on her bail handstand. Full pirouette on high ends slightly late. Double tuck dismount with a hop. 9.750
Crump (MINN) Yurchenko 1.5. Sticks it with an arm swing! Not as much distance as Stewart’s. 9.900
Clapper (Mich) Piked Jaeger, hesitation on casting to handstand, below horizontal on overshoot. Double layout with a stuck dismount. 9.800
Moraw (MINN) Yurchenko full with a small pike down at the end, 0.5 hop on landing. 9.800
Diaz (Mich) Great handstand on low, feet slipped on toe handstand and had to repeat. Gets the bail handstand. Double layout with a hop back, but not bad overall. 9.675
Ostrum (MINN) Yurchenko 1.5 and she almost sticks it but ends up taking one step back. Excellent vault rotation so far. 9.875
Lew (Mich) Blind half ends right in vertical, good piked Jaeger with straight legs and pointed toes. Another perfect handstand on high. Double layout and moves her left foot slightly. 9.850
Slevin (MINN) Yurchenko full with good block and nice open body position. One step back on landing. 9.800
Parenti (Mich) Toe handstand is right on. Catches Ray close with bent arms. Pak salto goes fine. Double layout with one step back. 9.800
Gerdes (MINN) Yurchenko 1.5. Gets good distance but is off line and lands on the left direction marker with a step. 9.825
Bauman (Mich) Beautiful blind half to huge straddle Jaeger. Double front dismount, of course with cowboyed legs, but good landing. 9.850
AFTER ONE: Minnesota 49.250, Michigan 49.050
Minnesota put up four Yurchenko 1.5s, and Emma Slevin is capable of that vault, so Minnesota is capable of raising its team start value. Form and dynamics were good throughout the lineup and landing deductions were minor, giving them the lead after one rotation. Diaz’s mistake didn’t hurt Michigan, as the team was able to drop her score. The team total is down from last week’s 49.4235. The athletes just needs to clean up some bent arms and stick the dismounts to get back to a higher score.
Rotation 2: Michigan VT, Minnesota UB
Davis (Mich) Yurchenko full. Her shoulder angle looks a little closed on the table, but she gets good power nontheless and hops back. 9.750
Gerdes (MINN) Swings well through toe handstand, Maloney to Pak. Full in dismount with just her left foot moving on landing. 9.825
Jordan (Mich) Yurchenko full with good air time and a hop back. 9.825
Crump (MINN) Good toe handstand to vertical, Maloney to Pak with good leg form. Double layout with nice flat hips and a step back. 9.775
Guggino (Mich) Yurchenko 1.5 twists slowly and lands in a deep squat but stands it up. 9.800
S. Nguyen (MINN) Legs are past vertical on blind half. Misses her straddle Jaeger and falls flat. Since her fingers got onto the bar, she gets credit for the skill and does not repeat. Below horizontal on her overshoot. Double layout with a large step back. 8.550
Ranger (Mich) Yurchenko 1.5. Leg form could be better on the post-flight. Steps forward, which is better than stepping back on this vault. 9.825
Slevin (MINN) Former elite from Ireland is new to NCAA this year. Overbalances handstand on low. Maloney to Pak keeps her legs together. van Leeuwen is a little crooked but she keeps her rhythm going. Sticks the double layout! 9.900
Diaz (Mich) Yurchenko 1.5, also bounds forward, and also needs tighter leg form in the air. 9.775
Saltzmann (MINN) Good blind half to straddle Jaeger. Bail is right to handstand. Double layout pikes on the second salto and hops forward. Another good effort from the freshman. She has scored 9.825 the past 2 weeks. And she does once again.
Lew (Mich) Yurchenko full doesn’t get a lot of distance and has to pike it down. 9.725
Lyden (MINN) Good toe handstand, Maloney to bail, very big double layout dismount. Circles her arms to keep her balance. Legs together and pointed toes throughout the routine made this a routine of distinction. 9.925
AFTER TWO: Minnesota 98.500 (49.250 bars), Michigan 98.025 (48.975 vault)
Michigan has dug itself a bit of a hole here, and will need mistakes from Minnesota to come back for the win. Vault was Michigan’s lowest-scoring event again this week, and as noted in the introduction, needs room for improvement. The bar routines of Slevin and Lyden were the highlight of this rotation. Now onto the second half of the meet, where we’ll see if the beam magic from last week continues for one or both of these teams.
Rotation 3: Minnesota BB, Michigan FX
Ostrum (MINN) It’s a big responsibility for a freshman to lead off beam, but Arianna handled it well last week. BHS LOSO is perfectly aligned. Full turn is also right on line. Switch split leap to straddle 1/4. Side aerial is solid. BHS gainer full with one step. 9.825
Parenti (Mich) Double pike is well-executed. Switch full is not all the way around, connects it to wolf full. Back 1.5 to front full with noticeable leg crossing. A good effort, but will likely not be the highest score we see today. 9.825
Gerdes (MINN) Front aerial with bent back leg but no trouble controlling it. BHS LOSO, front foot lifts up. Full turn without wobble. Split jump to ring jump–she needs to close the ring. BHS gainer full with a stuck landing. It won’t be a 9.925 today. 9.800
Walters (Mich) Punch double full with slight leg stagger on landing. Full split in Popa to straddle to half. Back 1.5 to front full, which she sticks. Headspring in closing choreography, which is fun to see. 9.850
Moraw (MINN) Sarah was the Big 10 beam champion in 2024, so expect a good routine. Needle scale shows off her flexibility. BHS LOSO lands well. Cat leap to aerial is no problem for her. Beat jump to straddle 3/4 with confidence. BHS gainer full which rises off the beam, differentiating it from the dismounts that came before. 9.875
Sanger (Mich) Double pike. Her front foot slides back on the lunge, which will incur a deduction. Does 2 wolf fulls in a row, second is not fully rotated. Back 1.5 to front layout. Layout is low and underrotated, ends in a squatty position. 9.550
Rowray (MINN) Back shoulder roll is kind of a throwback move but nice to see. BHS LOSO goes well. Switch leap to straddle half, gets it all the way around. Front toss to wolf jump is great. Gainer front full off the side of the beam with a stick. 9.925
Diaz (Mich) Does a long section of choreography before her first tumbling pass. So long in fact, that I thought I might have missed something. Front handspring front double full. She’s still twisting slightly when she lands. BHS rudi to layout. No major deduction noticed. 9.825
Pearl (MINN) BHS LOSO. BHS has a bent leg. High switch leap to straddle 1/4. Short of split on the jump. Front aerial is a bit off but she will probably get the connection into the beat jump. BHS gainer full bends at waist and takes a step. 9.775
Bauman (Mich) Last week’s Big 10 Specialist of the Week waits during a judges conference. FHS front double full, walks out of it, intentionally. Another set of wolf fulls with second one deteriorating. Back 1.5 to front layout with nice form and amplitude. 9.850
Lyden (MINN) Candle mount, moves each arm separately to get down out of it. Double wolf turn keeping body parts stable to minimize positional deductions. BHS LOSO is also successful. Cat leap to switch side lacking full split. RO back 1.5 dismount with a stick. 9.925
Ranger (Mich) Double layout is well performed with a controlled landing. She does a lot of acrobatic hand balancing moves in her choreography. Front layout, which is actually laid out instead of arched. She takes into a double tuck that lands short and she pops forward. 9.625
AFTER THREE: Minnesota 147.850 (49.350 beam), Michigan 147.000 (48.975)
Minnesota’s lead grew in the third rotation thanks to two 9.950s from Brooklyn Rowray and Jordyn Lyden. The beam total is down a fraction from last week, but still one the team should be pleased with. Michigan had to count Jahzra Ranger’s 9.625 after both she and Audrey Sanger had landing problems on tumbling passes. Michigan won’t be intimated by ending on beam after that was key to its success last week, and may be able to make up a little bit of ground.
Rotation 4: Michigan BB, Minnesota FX
Parenti (Mich) First element is a full turn, which she gets through nicely, as she does for her acro series BHS LOSO. Switch leap to split jump, gets full split on both elements. Front aerial to switch jump is also solid. RO back 1.5 with a stick. Great leadoff routine! 9.900
Lyden (MINN) Back 1.5 to front full, both elements have good height. Does a switch leap and looks like she only gets 3/4 of the way around- I expect that was supposed to be a full. Back 2.5 with a stuck landing to end her routine. 9.800
Walters (Mich) Front toss to back handspring, no hesitation in that connection. Split leap with a hesitation before switch half short of split. Front full off the end of the beam with a stuck landing. She looks very happy as she high fives her teammates. 9.850
Saltzmann (MINN) Double pike is stuck. Had slightly flexed feet. Front layout to front full with good rise on both skills. Double pike lands short and she takes a step forward. Good, but not great routine. 9.850
Jordan (Mich) Begins with low beam choreography. Side aerial to BHS, twists her shoulders a little on the landing. Beat jump to straddle half is well done, as is full turn. Front toss and back foot comes up. Beat jump in isolation. High gainer back pike with a step on the dismount. 9.550
Pearl (MINN) Top gymnast on floor for the Gophers in 2025. Back 1.5 to front layout with excellent body position. Double pike lands with good chest up position and no movement of the feet. 9.875
Ranger (Mich) BHS LOSO LOSO. Well done, and the first triple series of the meet. Pike jump does not get her legs up to horizontal. Front toss is solid. Double tuck dismount. She doesn’t stick it this week, taking one pace backward. 9.850
Gonsiorowski (MINN) Full in with legs apart. Front tuck to double tuck with flexed feet, but good height and landing. Straddle half to straddle full, leaving her leap combination until the end of the routine. 9.900
Boozer (Mich) Switch leap to switch jump, which is very interesting to see and her split position is great. BHS LOSO is nicely done. BHS gainer full. That could tie Jordyn Lyden for the highest beam score of the night. She exceeds the high score with 9.950
Swartzmiller (MINN) FHS rudi to straddle jump. That jump sometimes goes out of control, but hers didn’t. Back 1.5 to front layout is well done. The crowd is clapping along and seems enthusiastic and appreciative. 9.875
Bauman (Mich) BHS LOSO is well done. Split jump, straddle half, pauses before going into season. Side somi without adjustment. Gainer back pike with a small hop, but great otherwise. 9.825
Ostrum (MINN) The freshman gets to anchor floor, so you can put her in any position. Punch front to very high double tuck. FHS to rudi, something goes wrong as she tries to connect it to a back layout. It ends up like a crunchy back handspring that a beginner is just learning. Too bad, because everything else looked beautiful. 9.400
FINAL: Minnesota 197.150 (49.300 floor), Michigan 196.375 (49.375 beam)
VT: Crump (MINN) 9.900
UB: Lyden (MINN) 9.925
BB: Boozer (Mich) 9.950
FX: Gonsiorowski (MINN) 9.900
AA: No all-around competitors today
Minnesota’s scores have been climbing every week, and today they broke the 197.0-mark for the first time this season, which should help them rise in the national rankings. The team won three out of four events as far as team totals and individual finishers. Michigan didn’t have the meet it wanted, scoring 0.850 lower than last week. Beam was the top event for this team again, and the one they edged out Minnesota to win. The floor mishaps were probably just a fluke, but the low total will see the Wolverines relinquish their No. 5 ranking when this weekend’s meets conclude.
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Live blog by Jessica Needle
