No. 16 Minnesota Heads East for Meet at No. 20 Ohio State

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The No. 16 Minnesota women's gymnastics team looks to bounce back from a loss at No. 5 Michigan State this Sunday with a meet at No. 20 Ohio State. The meet is set for 1 p.m. CT on B1G+ inside the Covelli Center. Minnesota currently sits in a four-way tie for second place in the Big Ten standings with Penn State, Michigan and Michigan State. The Gophers won't compete against a team ranked higher than them until the Big Ten Championships on March 22 in Ann Arbor, Mich.

MEET INFORMATION
No. 16 Minnesota at No. 20 Ohio State
Sunday, Feb. 16
2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT
Covelli Center
Columbus, Ohio
TV/Stream: B1G+
Commentators: Greg Franke (Play-By-Play), Lexy Mattern (Analyst)
Live Stats: GopherSports.com

EVENT ROTATION ORDER
Minnesota: Bars-Vault-Floor-Beam
Ohio State: Vault-Bars-Beam-Floor

SCOUTING MINNESOTA

No. 16 Minnesota dropped its first meet of the season Saturday with a 197.475-196.800 defeat to No. 5 Michigan St. It was the two teams' first meeting since MSU took home the 2024 B1G Championships by just .100.
"It was a great meet," said head coach Jenny Hansen. "Michigan State was the strongest opponent we've competed against yet and it was a really good test for us. The team was excited and ready to go and I'm really proud of our effort. We also know we have more in the tank that we have to reach to achieve our goals this season."
The Gophers (5-1, 3-1 B1G) earned 49.050 on vault, 49.250 on bars, 49.200 on beam and 49.300 on floor. Michigan State (6-2, 3-1 B1G) went 49.425 on vault, 49.400 on bars, 49.275 on beam and 49.375 on the floor.
Mya Hooten tied for the floor title with another 9.925. She is five-for-five this season in winning floor event titles.
Minnesota holds wins in 2025 over CMU, New Hampshire, Penn State, Iowa and Washington. They're tied for second in the Big Ten standings (3-1) with Michigan State, Michigan, and Penn State. UCLA is alone in first place with a 4-0 record halfway through B1G competition.
The 'U' has won 25 event titles this year, including seven on vault and beam, six on floor and five on the uneven bars. Hooten (7) leads the team.
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).

SCOUTING OHIO STATE

The No. 20 Ohio State Buckeyes (2-5, 1-3 B1G) are led by eighth-year head coach Meredith Paulicivic. The 2024 campaign saw the Buckeyes earn a program record nine scores of 197 and higher, including a program record Big Ten Championship meet score of 197.050. They finished 13th in the final rankings and advanced to the NCAA Regional Final for the second straight season.
So far in 2025, OSU defeated Arkansas and Iowa. They have been defeated by Kentucky, UCLA, Michigan State, Michigan and Illinois.
The Buckeyes were picked to finish fourth in the Big Ten by its coaches, following Michigan State, UCLA and Michigan. Payton Harris and Tory Vetter were named Big Ten Gymnasts to Watch. Vetter, a 2024 First Team All-B1G selection, was named Big Ten Gymnast of the Week on Jan. 21.

HISTORY VS. OHIO STATE

Minnesota leads the all-time series against Ohio State, 22-10-1. They last met in 2022, a 197.575-195.775 win for the Golden Gophers at Maturi Pavilion. The last time they competed at OSU was in 2019, a 197.400-195.550 win for the Golden Gophers.
At Ohio State, the Gophers are 7-6. The 'U' won the last meet between the teams in Columbus, 197.400-195.550, in 2019.

NEW FACILITY OPENED ON JAN. 16

After starting construction in June, the $15.5 million Minnesota Gymnastics Facility project was officially opened Jan. 16, 2025.
The new performance center is 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.
"It's hard to believe this day is finally here," said head coach Jenny Hansen. "We have worked a long time to make this day a reality for our student-athletes and we're so grateful to everyone who made this a reality. To Mark Coyle, Marc Ryan and all our senior administrative staff, thank you. You believed in our program and saw the need. We now have the ability to train in a world class facility and the possibilities are endless for this program. We're so excited for our team to train at a facility of this level and we can't wait to get started."
The team's old practice facility, Peik Gymnasium, has been proposed for future demolition by campus leadership.
"It's just pure excitement and pure joy," said junior Sarah Moraw. "We have so much honor and gratitude to those that came before us and made this possible. Everyone who was involved in this process had a vision and made it come to life. I couldn't be more grateful for that."

SCHEDULE CHANGE AND ADDITIONAL HOME MEET

The 2025 slate features six home contests, two neutral site events and four away meets. All home meets besides the last one (2 p.m.) will begin at 4 p.m. CT and B1G+ will stream. The Gophers host CMU, Penn State, Washington, Nebraska, Ill. State, Iowa, LIU and Centenary at home.
Minnesota was originally scheduled to compete at the Minneapolis Armory on March 15, but that meet got moved to March 16 at the Pav. They will host Iowa, LIU and Centenary College.
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.

HOOTEN STARTS HOT IN FIFTH SEASON

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. She then went 9.950 on vault and 9.900 on the floor at UNH, winning event titles on both again. She was named Big Ten Event Specialist of the Week on Jan. 14.
She delivered her best performances on the floor this year Jan. 18 vs. Penn State, Feb. 1 vs. UW, Feb. 8 at MSU, going 9.925 to win event titles.
Hooten holds five floor and two vault event titles this year. She's five-for-five in floor titles.

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 six, the Gophers come in at No. 16 in the Road to Nationals rankings. They come in at No. 15 on vault, 23 on bars, 13 on beam and 19th on the floor.

ROAD TO NATIONALS INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

On vault, Mya Hooten (9.875 avg.) ranks 16th nationally (4th in B1G). Ava Stewart ranks 12th in the Big Ten (9.840 avg.).
Jordyn Lyden (9.867 avg.) comes in at No. 28 nationally (6th in B1G) on bars.
Ava Stewart (9.842 avg.) and Jordyn Lyden (9.844 avg.) rank 52nd/47th nationally on beam and 11th/8th in the Big Ten.
Mya Hooten (9.900 avg.) ranks fourth in the Big Ten on floor. She ranks 15th nationally. Emily Koch (9.862 avg.) ranks 15th in the Big Ten.

LYDEN LIGHTS IT UP IN YEAR TWO

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. She won event titles on both bars (9.875) and beam (9.825) on Jan. 11 at UNH.
The Stillwater, Minn., native won her third straight bars title with a 9.875 on Jan. 18 against Penn State. Against Iowa on Jan. 26, it was the first meet of the year she didn't win a bars title (9.850). Lyden achieved a career-high on beam, however, totaling a 9.900. She tied for a beam event title on Feb. 1 vs. Washington, tallying a 9.875. She earned a season-best 9.900 on the uneven bars at MSU on Feb. 8.

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 four 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 earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Jan. 7. Stewart started on vault, bars and beam on Jan. 11 at UNH.
In Stewart's third meet vs. Penn State, she shined once again, winning an event title on vault with a stellar 9.925 run. She also hit 9.825 on balance beam, helping Minnesota comeback to defeat the Nittany Lions after trailing through two rotations.
Stewart ranks second on the team with five event titles so far in 2025. She won both vault (9.875) and beam (9.875) Feb. 1 vs. Washington.
Stewart ranks 12th in the Big Ten on vault and 11th on beam.

SEASON-HIGH AT IOWA RANKS AMONG NATION'S BEST

No. 16 Minnesota posted season-highs on all four events on Jan. 26 at Iowa. Their score of 197.325 is a number only nine other teams in the country have reached in 2025.
Those teams: Florida (198.125), LSU (198.000), Oklahoma (197.950), Utah (197.950), UCLA (197.950), Oregon St. (197.600), California (197.550), Michigan St. (197.500) and Stanford (197.400).

KOCH KEEPS COOKIN' IN YEAR FIVE

A fifth year senior from Bloomington, Minn., Emily Koch competed in all 14 meets last season as a staple on both the balance beam and floor teams. She posted career-best 9.950 scores on both beam and floor on senior day at the Pav.
She went 9.850-or-higher five times on beam and 13 times on the floor - winning two event titles, including one each on beam and floor. The four-year letterwinner is a four-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, two time WCGA Academic All-American and a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar.
Like Hooten, Koch elected to come back for her fifth year in 2025. She started on the beam team in all six meets and on floor four times.
Koch, who has competed on the floor in the four Big Ten meets, earned a season-best 9.900 vs. Iowa. She ranks 50th nationally in the event.

UP NEXT
Minnesota comes back home to host No. 23 Nebraska next Saturday, Feb. 22. The meet is set to begin at 4 p.m. CT on B1G+.

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Players Mentioned

Mya Hooten

Emily Koch

Jordyn Lyden

Sarah Moraw

Lauren Pearl

Ava Stewart