GymHawks Notebook: at Minnesota

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IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa women’s gymnastics team travels to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to take on the Gophers at Maturi Pavillion on  Saturday at 6 p.m. (CT). 

WATCH/FOLLOW LIVE

• Live stats throughout the season can be found on the women’s gymnastics schedule page on hawkeyesports.com.
• Follow along with updates from @iowagymnastics on Twitter. 

TICKETS 

• Tickets are available at hawkeyesports.com/tickets, by calling 1-800-IA-HAWKS, or at the UI Athletics Ticket Office at the north entrance of Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
• Adult tickets are $10. Youth (18 and under) and UI students receive free admission to all regular season home meets.

GYMHAWKS’ 2020

• The GymHawks are undefeated inside Carver-Hawkeye arena with wins (195.550) over Ball State (192.775) and Air Force (188.650) on Jan. 11 and Michigan State on Feb. 1 (195.450-195.300). 
• Sophomore Lauren Guerin earned a perfect 9.950 on vault from one judge and a final score of 9.925 to set her new career best, tying for the ninth spot in the Iowa record book at the Critique Classic in Florida (Jan. 3). 
• The GymHawks set a season high 49.200 on floor at Maryland (Jan. 19) — Guerin led the Hawkeyes with a 9.950 to win the event and set a new career-best score.
• Two Hawkeyes etched their names into the record book on Jan. 19 against Maryland. Sophomore Lauren Guerin scored 9.950 on floor to tie for third all-time at Iowa and freshman Allyson Steffensmeier recorded a 9.925 on bars, tying for sixth in the records
• Guerin recorded a 9.950 on floor for the second consecutive week at Penn State (Jan. 25). 
• Iowa recorded a season-high team score of 49.150 on vault against Michigan State (Feb. 1). 
• Four freshman earned career-high scores on vault against Michigan State  (Feb. 1) including, Dani Castillo (9.775), Ariana Agrapides (9.850) and Maddy Solomon (9.800). 
• Senior Clair Kaji earned a season-high score 9.850 on beam, sharing the title in the event against Michigan State (Feb. 1).

SCOUTING MINNESOTA 

• Nationally, the Ghophers are ranked No. 6 overall and 1st on beam, 9th on bars, 10th on vault and 22nd on floor. 
• Minnesota holds a current record of 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the Big Ten. 
• The Gophers recorded a team score of 197.400 against Ohio State on Feb. 1 to move into fourth place all-time in program history, in addition to two more top-10 program performances on bars and beam. 
• Minnesota is led by head coach Jenny Hansen for her fifth season with the Gophers. 

GYMHAWK 2019 HIGHLIGHTS

• Larissa Libby is in her 16th season as head coach at Iowa and her 20th year overall.
• Iowa returns first team All-Big Ten honoree, Clair Kaji for her senior season, along with second team All-Big Ten honoree, sophomore Lauren Guerin.
• The Hawkeyes wrapped up their 2019 season at the NCAA Corvallis Regional with a score of 194.775, placing fourth in session two, but did not advance to the Regional final.
• Iowa scored a season high 196.450 at Elevate the Stage/Big Five Meet on Feb. 22, 2019.
• The GymHawks scored 195.400 versus Illinois on Feb. 16, scoring a 49.200 on bars and a season high of 49.400 on floor.
• At the Big Ten Championships, the GymHawks finished sixth with a team score of 196.075.
• Iowa finished the season ranked No. 31 overall in the final Road to Nationals Poll.

FRESH SIX 

• The GymHawks added six freshmen to the 2020 roster: Ariana Agrapides, Dani Castillo, JerQuavia Henderson, Ellie Rogers, Madelyn Solomon, and Allyson Steffensmeier.
• Agrapides is from Bayville, NJ and trained at Premier Gymnastics. She finished her high school career as 2019 State vault, floor, and all-around champion. 
• Castillo is a Miami, Florida, native who competed at American Twister’s under coaches Gary Anderson and Christy Ramírez. She won the Region 8 all-around Championships (38.375) and was the state runner up during the 2019 season.
• Henderson comes from Peoria, Illinois, and trained at Gym Corner. In 2019, Henderson placed third in all-around at level 6/9/10 State Championship and was named Peoria Journal Star’s 2018 Central Illinois Best of Preps: Gymnast of the Year. 
• Rogers — a native of Spotsylvania, Virginia — trained at Paragon Gymnastics. She was a regionals qualifier sophomore-senior year.
• Solomon comes from Waterloo, Iowa where she was trained by Kevin Crowley. Solomon was awarded United States Marines Distinguished Female Athletic Excellence Award in 2019. 
• Steffensmeier — a native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa — rounds out the newcomers. She qualified for Junior Nationals three out of four years. In 2019, Steffensmeier claimed first place at Regionals in all-around with a score of 37.259. 

UP NEXT

• The GymHawks host Michigan on Feb. 14 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa, at 6 p.m. (CT). 
• The theme of the meet is ’80s Night, so be sure to join in the fun and dress up.
• Live results will be available at hawkeyesports.com/gymlive.