'U' Hits the Road for Meet at New Hampshire

MINNEAPOLIS -- The No. 24 Minnesota women's gymnastics team hits the road for the first time in 2025 this weekend. The Gophers will compete at New Hampshire on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT. Senior gymnast Lauren Pearl, a Second Team All-Big Ten selection in 2024, grew up in Milford, Mass., which is just under a two hour drive from the meet. Minnesota will be looking to build upon its 1-0 start before Big Ten play begins next week against Penn State.

MEET INFORMATION
No. 24 Minnesota at New Hampshire
Saturday, Jan. 11
6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT
Whittemore Center at Key Auto Group Complex
Durham, N.H.
TV/Stream: America East TV
Live Stats: GopherSports.com

EVENT ROTATION ORDER
Minnesota: Bars-Vault-Floor-Beam
New Hampshire: Vault-Bars-Beam-Floor

SCOUTING MINNESOTA

The No. 24 Minnesota women's gymnastics team enters week two of the season on a mission to prove last week was far from its best effort. The Gophers scored 194.450 in their season debut against Central Michigan. It was Minnesota's first time being under 195.000 since Jan. 4, 2019.
The Gophers went 48.500 on vault, 48.900 on bars, 49.000 on beam and 48.050 on the floor on Saturday vs. CMU.
The 'U' came in at No. 18 in the WCGA Preseason rankings and were picked to finish fifth in the Big Ten Preseason Poll.
The Gophers are coming off a 2024 season that saw them go 20-11 (6-3 Big Ten) and finish second at the B1G Championships. The Gophers went to the NCAA Regional Finals for the third time in the last four seasons and their No. 12 final ranking was the highest finish of any Big Ten team.
Heading into 2025, Gophers seniors Mya Hooten and Lauren Pearl were named Big Ten Gymnasts to Watch. Hooten, a fifth-year, has earned 11 All-America honors in her career. Pearl earned All-Big Ten Second Team and All-Big Ten Championships Team honors in a breakout junior year.
The Gophers finished fourth in the B1G regular season standings with a 6-3 league record. Minnesota then finished second at the Big Ten Championships on March 23 with a score of 197.500, missing winning the conference crown by .100 to Michigan State (197.600). It was the second-best finish at Big Ten's since 2006 (won Big Ten title in 2021).
Minnesota made its 43rd NCAA Regionals appearance all-time in 2024 in year 50 of program history. The Gophers have made regionals for the past 28 seasons (not including 2020 COVID year).
The 'U' made nationals three times (2016, 2021, 2022) in the past 10 seasons, finishing second each time in their regional. Their two regional titles in program laurels came in 1980 and 1982.
Mya Hooten was named a WCGA regular season First Team All-American on both floor and vault. It was her fourth straight first team honor on floor and third straight on vault (two-time second team honoree).
The Gophers best performance of the season came in their senior day quad with a dazzling 197.725. They went over 197 four times in 2024.

SCOUTING NEW HAMPSHIRE

The New Hampshire Wildcats are led by sixth-year head coach Lindsey Bruck Ayotte. She served as associate head coach at UNH for two seasons before being promoted to head coach position in 2019. She's coming off her best season in 2024 as the team went 23-13 (2-2 EAGL) and finished second at the conference championships. Graduate student Kylie Gorgenyi, who was named EAGL Gymnast of the Year, tied for second in the all-around at the EAGL Championships and advanced to the NCAA Regionals in Gainesville, Fla.
In their first meet of 2025 at Penn State on Saturday, UNH totaled a 192.025, going 48.700 on vault, 46.025 on bars, 48.600 on beam and 48.700 on the floor. Standout performers included Mady Harvey on beam (9.825) and Anne Challman (9.825) on the floor.
The Wildcats will compete against two more Big Ten foes this year in Nebraska and Rutgers - in addition to meets at Penn State and vs. MinnesotA.

2025 ROSTER CONSTRUCTION

Minnesota enters the 2025 season with 22 student-athletes on its roster. The Gophers most experienced student-athletes are fifth years Mya Hooten and Emily Koch. Hooten competes in vault, bars and floor while Koch is a staple on beam and floor.
The Gophers have three 'true' seniors on the roster in Anahit Assadourian, Marissa Jencks and Lauren Pearl. Jencks and Pearl both competed in every meet last year, with Pearl being named Second Team All-Big Ten and to the Big Ten All-Championships Team.
Four juniors are rostered by the 'U' in 2025. The class is led by 2024 Big Ten Balance Beam Champion Sarah Moraw. Seria Johnson competed in every meet last year, partaking on both the bars and floor teams. Brooklyn Rowray tallied a 9.975 on beam in the team's first meet of the season in 2024 before tearing her achilles. She is set to return to full form in 2025. Megan Steensland has competed in exhibitions in the past and is expected to take a leap this year and become a regular in the lineup.
Minnesota's biggest class is its sophomore group, with seven student-athletes. Jordyn Lyden (bars), Leah Gonsiorowski (floor) and Sophia Nguyen (vault and bars) got the most time last year as rookies. Lyden was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week three times for her performances on bars last year, including tying the school record at Penn State for highest bars score (9.975).
Five true freshmen joined the Gophers this season. Ava Stewart highlights the group after competing in the 2024 Summer Olympics for Team Canada last year. Teryn Crump, a Pfluegerville, Texas, native, won the level 10 uneven bars and floor state championships in Texas in 2023.

SCHEDULE TO FEATURE FIVE HOME MEETS, ONE AT MINNEAPOLIS ARMORY IN 2025

The 2025 slate features five home contests, two neutral site events and four away meets. All home meets will begin at 4 p.m. CT and B1G+ will stream. The Gophers host Central Michigan, Penn State, Washington, Nebraska and Illinois State at home.
Road matches for Minnesota include contests at New Hampshire, Iowa, Michigan State and Ohio State. The 'Big 4', which changed this year from the Big 5 after the additions of UCLA and Washington to the Big Ten, will be held in College Park, Md.
For the first time in program history, Minnesota will compete in a neutral site meet at the Minneapolis Armory on Saturday, March 15. Iowa, Pitt and Centenary will also take part in the quad meet.

NEW FACILITY TO OPEN ON JAN. 13

After starting construction in June, the $15.5 million Minnesota Gymnastics Facility project is set to be completed by Jan. 16, 2025.
The new performance center will be in the Athletes Village footprint, which will allow for student-athletes to study, train, eat and recover all in one location. The facility is being constructed on the south side of the department's indoor football field.

HOOTEN RETURNS FOR FIFTH SEASON IN 2025

A fifth year senior from Woodbury, Minn., Hooten elected to use her fifth year (due to COVID) and return to Minnesota in 2025. She's an 11-time All-American, including a four-time WCGA First Team All-American on floor (2021-24), a First Team All-American on vault (2024) and a two-time Second Team All-American on vault (2022, 2023). Hooten earned two NCAA Championships First Team All-America honors on floor (2021, 2022) and two NCAA Championships Second Team accolades on vault (2021, 2022).
In 2024, Hooten posted three perfect 10's on floor (vs. EMU, Jan. 13; vs. Michigan, Feb. 10); (Senior Day, March 17). She's done so nine times in her career. Also last season, she earned Big Ten Event Specialist of the Week five times (11 times in her career), and won 20 event titles (10 floor, seven vault, three uneven bars). She made SportCenter's top-10 plays for her floor performance on Jan. 13 vs. Eastern Michigan.
An AAI Award nominee, Hooten made the Big Ten All-Championships Team for the fourth consecutive season after winning Big Ten Championships on the floor (9.950), uneven bars (9.925) and vault (9.975). It was her third Big Ten floor title, second vault title and first UB title.
Hooten started her fifth year with event titles in both vault (9.900) and floor (9.825) on Jan. 4 in the CMU meet.

WCGA AND ROAD TO NATIONALS RANKINGS

Minnesota finished the 2024 season at No. 12 in the Road to Nationals rankings. They ranked 19th on vault, 21st on bars, eighth on beam and 11 th on the floor.
Individually, Mya Hooten ranked eighth nationally on vault and second on the floor, earning WCGA All-America honors in both.
Minnesota began the 2025 season ranked No. 18 in the WCGA Preseason poll.
After week one, the Gophers come in at No. 24 in the Road to Nationals rankings. They come in at No. 24 on vault, 17 on bars, 12 on beam and 33rd on the floor. Individually, Hooten ranks 9th nationally on vault while Stewart ranks 17th on the beam.

LYDEN LOOKING TO BUILD OFF STRONG YEAR ONE

Gophers sophomore Jordyn Lyden had a standout rookie season in the Maroon and Gold in 2024. She was a mainstay in the uneven bars lineup, where she posted a 9.867 average, including a career-high 9.975 on Feb. 3 at Penn State. Her score tied the school record for best uneven bars score. She earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors three separate times as a freshman last season.
Lyden started her second year in the Maroon and Gold with an event title on the uneven bars. She went 9.850 on Jan. 4 in the opener vs. CMU.

STEWART PROVIDES HUGE BOOST AS A FRESHMAN

Bowmanville, Ontario native Ava Stewart came to the Gophers in 2025 after competing for Team Canada in both the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics. This past Olympics, Stewart placed 19th in the Artistic Women's All-Around Final. Stewart competed in all for events for Canada, where her vault score was 13.333, bars was 12.633 and she earned scores of 13.166 on beam and 12.500 on floor. Her total score was 51.632.
In her first meet as a Gopher, Stewart started on the beam team, where she took home an event title with a 9.875 on Jan. 4 vs. CMU. She also competed in exhibitions on vault and bars, going 9.700-or-higher on both events.

UP NEXT
Minnesota opens Big Ten play on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 4 p.m. against Penn State. The meet will be streamed on B1G+.

Upcoming Events

Players Mentioned

Anahit Assadourian

Teryn Crump

Leah Gonsiorowski

Mya Hooten

Marissa Jencks

Seria Johnson

Emily Koch

Jordyn Lyden

Sarah Moraw

Sophia Nguyen

Lauren Pearl

Brooklyn Rowray

Megan Steensland

Ava Stewart