No. 12 Minnesota Heads West to Washington

SEATTLE, Wash. -- The No. 12 University of Minnesota women's gymnastics team will compete in its last Big Ten head-to-head meet on Friday night at Washington (3-6, 2-3 B1G). The meet is set for 8:30 p.m. CT/6:30 p.m. PST on B1G+.

The Gophers are currently locked in a five-way tie for second place in the conference while Washington is in a four-way tie for seventh. Minnesota has not competed at Washington since 2014, but the two met last year in Minneapolis and at the Big Ten Championships.

MEET INFORMATION
No. 12 Minnesota at Washington
Friday, Feb. 20
8:30 p.m. CT/6:30 p.m. PST
Alaska Airlines Arena
Seattle, Wash.
TV/Stream: B1G+
Commentators: Baely Rowe (Play-By-Play)
Live Stats: GopherSports.com

2026 SO FAR

The Minnesota gymnastics team enters Friday's meet with a 5-3 (3-2 B1G) record. They've competed against a difficult schedule so far, but have posted a 4-2 record against top-25 ranked teams.
After going 1-1 in their first meet at No. 5 Utah and vs. Iowa, Minnesota took down consecutive top-10 ranked opponents in No. 10 Arkansas and No. 5 Michigan at home. They also won Feb. 14 at No. 16 PSU for their first road win.
Following a setback at Nebraska on Jan. 24, Minnesota reeled off consecutive 197+ performances with a 197.050 win over Iowa and a season-best 197.275 in a defeat to No. 5 UCLA.
The 'U' holds 20 event titles this year across seven meets, led by freshman Arianna Ostrum with five.
Minnesota ranks 12th overall in the Road to Nationals rankings, placing 16th on vault, 17th on bars, 11th on beam and 13th on the floor.
The 'U' is 3-1 at home this year, 1-2 on the road and 1-0 at neutral sites. In Big Ten competitions, they're 2-1 at home and 1-1 on the road thus far.
Picked to finish fourth in the Big Ten Preseason Poll, Jordyn Lyden and Gianna Gerdes were picked as Big Ten Gymnasts to Watch.

WEEK SEVEN RECAP VS. PENN ST.

The No. 15 Minnesota gymnastics team defeated the No. 16 Penn State Nittany Lions on Saturday afternoon at Rec Hall. The final score was 197.075-196.000 as Minnesota took home its first road win of the year.
Minnesota moved to 5-3 (3-2 B1G) on the year while Penn State dropped to 4-3 (3-2 B1G). The Gophers hit the 197 mark for the fourth time this season and hit a season-best with a 49.500 on balance beam.
The Gophers posted scores of 49.175 on vault, 49.175 on bars, 49.500 on beam and 49.225 on the floor. Penn State went 48.950 on vault, 49.375 on bars, 48.575 on beam and 49.000 on the floor.
Arianna Ostrum won the vault title with a 9.875. On the balance beam, Ava Stewart won with a career-best 9.950. Minnesota's Jordyn Lyden, Lacie Saltzmann and Sophie Swartzmiller won on the floor with 9.875's.
Minnesota's beam score of 49.500 was a season-best and tied for the ninth-best in program history.

SCOUTING WASHINGTON

The Washington Huskies (3-6, 2-3 B1G) are led by second-year head coach Jessica Hansen Parker. She was announced as the program's ninth head coach on July 2, 2024 after serving four seasons as an assistant coach at her alma mater, Iowa. Last year, they finished 10th at the Big Ten Championships and the Huskies had four gymnasts compete as individuals in the NCAA Regionals.
So far in 2026, UW holds wins over No. 19 Ohio State, Oregon State and Rutgers. They come in as the No. 34 overall team on Road to Nationals, placing 37th on vault, 44th on bars, 33rd on beam and 24th on the floor.
Heading into this season, the GymDawgs were picked to finish 11th in the 12-team Big Ten. Junior Mary McDonough and senior Lilly Tubbs were named as UW's Big Ten Gymnasts to Watch. Their season-high is 196.475.

LAST TIME THEY COMPETED AT WASHINGTON

Minnesota is 10-4 all-time against Washington. Minnesota and UW met last year at the Pav, with Minnesota winning 196.825-195.425 to welcome the GymDawgs to the Big Ten. The Gophers outscored UW at the Big Ten Championships as well, with Minnesota finishing third, Washington 10th.
They last met in 2014 in Seattle, with the 'U' taking a 196.350-195.025 victory.
They met in 2024 at the Boise State quad meet. The Gophers finished third behind Washington (197.200) and Boise State (196.825). Before that, they met in 2023 at the Wasatch Classic in West Valley, Utah, falling 196.550-196.325 to UW.

EVENT TITLES APLENTY

So far in 2026, the 'U' holds 20 event titles. Teryn Crump (9.900) won on vault, Jordyn Lyden (9.925) won on bars and Leah Gonsiorowski (9.900) won on the floor vs. Michigan. Arianna Ostrum and Sophie Swartzmiller (9.875) tied for the floor title vs. Arkansas.
On Jan. 31 vs. Iowa, Minnesota won four more titles. Arianna Ostrum tallied a career-best 9.900 on vault for her third title of the season, including first on the event. Jordyn Lyden won her second bars title of the year with a 9.900 while Lauren Pearl won on beam with a 9.900, her first event title of the year. Sophie Swartzmiller won her second floor title of 2026 with a 9.900, tying a career-best.
On Feb. 7 vs. UCLA, Arianna Ostrum (9.950) won on vault and Lauren Pearl (9.925) tied for the beam title. Ostrum won again on vault Feb. 14 at PSU while Ava Stewart (9.950) won on beam. Lyden, Saltzmann and Swartzmiller (9.875) tied for the floor title.
In 2025, Minnesota won 47 event titles. That included 11 vault, 13 bars, 12 beam and 11 floor.

WCGA AND ROAD TO NATIONALS RANKINGS

After week seven, Minnesota moved up three spots to No. 12 (196.705 avg.) in the Road to Nationals rankings. The Gophers rank 16th on vault (49.085 avg.), 17th on bars (49.085 avg.), 11th on beam (49.240 avg.), and 13th on floor (49.290 avg.).
Minnesota began 2026 ranked No. 15 in the WCGA Preseason poll. They ranked behind only No. 4 UCLA, No. 6 Michigan St. and No. 14 Michigan in the Big Ten. Currently, UCLA is 5th, Michigan is 8th and Michigan State is 11th.

INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

Nationally, Minnesota has five gymnasts ranked in the top-50 of events this season.
Jordyn Lyden ranks 38th on bars (9.850 avg.), 21st on beam (9.865 avg.) and 43rd on the floor (9.860 avg.).
Arianna Ostrum is 45th on vault (9.825 avg.) and 48th on floor (9.860 avg.).
Lacie Saltzmann ranks 49th on bars (9.835 avg.) and Sarah Moraw is 49th on beam (9.825 avg.).
Sophie Swartzmiller comes in at No. 33 on the floor (9.865 avg.).

TOP SCORES PER EVENT

Minnesota's top vault performance of the year came on Feb. 7 vs. UCLA, as the Gophers totaled 49.250. On bars, their top outing came on Jan. 31 vs. Iowa with a 49.399.
For the beam team, their 49.425 on Jan. 10 vs. Arkansas took the cake. They improved from just a 48.775 team score just eight days prior.
On the floor, Minnesota tallied a 49.350 Jan. 24 at Nebraska. They've gone 49.300-or-higher the last three meets.
Minnesota's team score of 197.150 on Jan. 17 was the earliest in a season the Gophers recorded a 197-or-higher since totaling a 197.025 on Jan. 15, 2021. The 'U' also went over 107 on Jan. 31, tallying a 197.050 vs. Iowa. Its best score came on Feb. 7 vs. UCLA with a 197.275.

STEWART READY TO ROCK IN YEAR TWO

Bowmanville, Ontario native Ava Stewart came to the Gophers in 2025 after competing for Team Canada in both the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics. In the 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 season as a Gopher, Stewart was a staple on the vault, bars and floor teams. She earned Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors and Second Team All-Big Ten accolades. She earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Jan. 7, 2025 after posting a 9.875 on beam in her first meet.
Stewart ranked third on Minnesota with six event titles (three vault, three beam) last season. She hit 9.900-or-better four times on vault and three times on bars last season. Stewart hit career-highs on bars (9.925) and beam (9.925) as well.
In 2026, Stewart's best vault's have been vs. Michigan (Jan. 17) and UCLA (Feb. 7), when she went 9.850. She took home her first event title on Jan. 24 at Nebraska, tying with teammate Teryn Crump with a 9.825. She competed on beam at PSU, hitting a new career-high with a 9.950.

SWARTZMILLER CONTINUES FLOOR HOT STREAK

Junior Sophie Swartzmiller has been one of Minnesota's most consistent gymnasts on the floor dating back to last season. She's posted 9.850-or-better scores 11 straight times on the event dating back to 2025. Her career-best is 9.900, which she's hit twice, including in 2026.
Swartzmiller won her third event title of the season on Feb. 14 at PSU, going 9.875. She also won Jan. 31 vs. Iowa with her 9.900 score.

UP NEXT
The 'U' will complete Big Ten regular season competition with the Big Four Meet on Sunday, March 1. BTN will televise the event, which starts at 3 p.m. CT. Michigan State, Illinois and Rutgers will also be in Minneapolis.

Upcoming Events

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Teryn Crump

Gianna Gerdes

Leah Gonsiorowski

Jordyn Lyden

Sarah Moraw

Arianna Ostrum

Lauren Pearl

Lacie Saltzmann

Ava Stewart

Sophie Swartzmiller