Three conference teams advanced to the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championship, while six individuals competed at the national meet in April to complete the 2013 season.
NCAA Championship Central: At the 2013 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championship, seven Big Ten gymnasts posted top-10 individual finishes, led by Michigan's Joanna Sampson's event title in the floor exercise. Minnesota's Hanna Nordquist and Wolverine Katie Zurales tied for second on the balance beam, while Nebraska's Emily Wong and Gopher Lindsay Mable finished in the top-10 in the floor exercise, coming in at third and fourth, respectively. On the vault, Mable tied for fifth and Wong placed 10th. In addition to the individual performances, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota represented the conference in the team portion of the championships. The Wolverines and Gophers each placed fourth in their respective prequalifying round, while the Illini finished fifth. For more on the NCAA Championships, click here and here.
Regional Representation: All eight Big Ten schools competed in the NCAA Regional Championships. Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State and Penn State represented the conference in team competition, while three Michigan State gymnasts competed in various individual events. Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota earned berths to the national meet, while Nebraska, Ohio State and Penn State advanced individual gymnasts to the NCAA Championships. Click here and here for more on regional competition.
Huskers Bring Home the Hardware: Nebraska earned the Big Ten Women's Gymnastics Championships title, its second consecutive crown. The Huskers tallied a team score of 197.800 en route to the title, while Michigan followed in second place with a score of 197.225 and Minnesota finished third with 196.775 points. Illinois took fourth place with a team score of 196.475, followed by Ohio State in fifth (195.950), Penn State in sixth (195.825), Michigan State in seventh (195.450) and Iowa in eighth (193.400). Individually, Nebraska's Emily Wong won the all-around competition for the second year in a row. Click here for more on the Big Ten Championships.
Sharing the Crown: Michigan and Minnesota each earned a share of the inaugural regular-season Big Ten Championship. Both the Wolverines and the Gophers completed the regular season with 6-1 conference dual meet marks. Michigan was 17-1 overall, while Minnesota was 16-3. For the Michigan release, click here. For the Minnesota release, click here. And the Award Goes To: The conference's individual awards were given out following the conclusion of the Big Ten Championships. Michigan's Joanna Sampson was named Big Ten Gymnast of the Year, the second such award for a Wolverine athlete in the last three seasons. Minnesota's Lindsay Mable took home Freshman of the Year laurels and Gopher head coach Meg Stephenson received Coach of the Year accolades. For more award winners, click here and here.
Eight Big Ten women's tennis teams appear in the latest Campbell's/ITA National Rankings, released on Thursday. The conference is led by No. 10 Michigan, No. 11 Northwestern, No. 16 Nebraska and No. 30 Purdue in the top 30. Indiana sits at No. 41, while Illinois checks in at No. 45. Penn State is No. 47 and Ohio State ranks No. 73.
Individually, 10 Big Ten women's tennis players and 11 doubles pairs have been ranked nationally in the ITA poll. The complete list of ranked conference singles and doubles players can be found below.
Singles 11. Mary Weatherholt, NEB 30. Emina Bektas, MICH 57. Kate Turvy, NU
58. Ronit Yurovsky, MICH
67. Kelsey Dieters, OSU
77. Petra Januskova, PSU 91. Ruth Seaborne, IOWA
99. Sarah Lee, MICH 114. Katie Klyczek, IND 115. Leslie Hureau, IND
Doubles
3. Patricia Veresova/Mary Weatherholt, NEB 6. Brooke Bolender/Emina Bektas, MICH 14. Linda Abu Mushefova/Nida Hamilton, NU 21. Petra Januskova/Chelsea Utting, PSU
22. Melissa Kopinski/Rachael White, ILL 27. Krisztina Kapitany/Mara Schmidt, PUR
41. Ruth Seaborne/Morven McCulloch, IOWA
55. Leslie Hureau/Carolyn Chupa, IND 69. Ronit Yurovsky/Sarah Lee, MICH 88. Brooke Bolender/Ronit Yurovsky, MICH 90. Mimi Nguyen/Sarah Lee, MICH
For the complete polls, click here.
Ten Big Ten men's tennis teams appear in the latest Campbell's/ITA National Rankings, released on Thursday. Ohio State leads conference squads in the poll, coming in at No. 5. No. 22 Michigan, No. 26 Illinois, No. 35 Minnesota, No. 36 Northwestern and No. 43 Michigan State also rank in the top 50. Indiana checks in at No. 55, followed by No. 60 Wisconsin and No. 62 Purdue. Nebraska rounds out conference teams in the poll at No. 67. Individually, 12 Big Ten men's tennis players and 10 doubles pairs have been ranked nationally in the ITA poll. The complete list of Big Ten singles and doubles players can be found below.
Singles
8. Peter Kobelt, OSU 12. Blaz Rola, OSU 13. Evan King, MICH 32. Jared Hiltzik, ILL 53. Rok Bonin, MINN 71. Connor Smith, OSU 73. Devin McCarthy, OSU 83. Leandro Toledo, MINN 87. Raleigh Smith, NU 104. Chris Diaz, OSU 113. Aaron Pfister, MSU 125. Vlad Stefan, MICH
Doubles
12. Peter Kobelt/Connor Smith, OSU
16. Tim Kopinski/Ross Guignon, ILL
23. Sam Monette/Isade Juneau, IND 40. Evan King/Shaun Bernstein, MICH 50. Blaz Rola/Kevin Metka, OSU 55. Szymon Tatarczky/Krisztian Krocsko, PUR 57. Alex Buzzi/Evan King, MICH
66. Josh MacTaggart/Isade Juneau, IND
71. Alex Kostanov/Billy Bertha, WIS
75. Tim Kopinski/Farris Gosea, ILL
90. Jared Hiltzik/Alex Jesse, ILL
For the complete polls, click here.
The Big Ten men's gymnastics season came to a close at the NCAA Championships, where Michigan claimed the team crown and five out of the six individual titles where claimed by conference student-athletes.
NCAA Champions: Michigan took home the 2013 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championship. The title marked the Wolverines second national championship in four years and their fifth overall. The crown was the third championship by a Big Ten school in the last four years, as Illinois claimed the national title last season. The Wolverines finished with a score of 443.200, defeating second-place Oklahoma by over three points (440.100). Penn State, Iowa and Illinois also competed in the team final, with the Nittany Lions posting a fourth-place finish, the Hawkeyes finishing fifth and the Illini placing sixth. For more on the NCAA Championship click here.
All-Around Athletes: Michigan's Sam Mikulak was crowned the all-around winner at the NCAA Championship. With the title, Mikulak becomes the sixth Big Ten gymnast to win multiple national titles in the event, as he also took home the championship in 2011. Teammate Adrian de los Angeles placed second in the event. For more on the NCAA Championship, click here.
NCAA Individual Success: For conference standouts took home national titles, and combined for five of the six individual titles, at the NCAA Championship. Michigan's Sam Mikulak won the high bar competition for the second consecutive year and earned the parallel bars crown. Illinois' Fred Hartville took home the vault championship, Ohio State's Michael Newburger won the pommel horse competition and Penn State's Trevor Howard placed first in the floor exercise. Click here for more on individuals at the NCAA Championship.
Wolverine Winners: Totaling a team score of 438.900 points, Michigan held of the field at the 2013 Big Ten Men's Gymnastics Championships to take home the team title. The Wolverines claimed their 16th Big Ten title and first since 2009. Michigan's Sam Mikulak was crowned the Big Ten all-around champion for the second time, as he first took the crown in 2011. Read all about the conference championships here.
All the Awards: Michigan's Sam Mikulak was voted Big Ten Gymnast of the Year for the second time, as he also earned the honor in 2011 and Penn State's Trevor Howard claimed Freshman of the Year accolades. Wolverine head coach Kurt Golder was named Big Ten Coach of the year for the third time and first since winning back-to-back honors in 1999 and 2000. Mikulak was joined on the All-Big Ten first team by Illinois' Fred Hartville and Yoshi Mori, Iowa's Javier Balboa and Broderick Shemansky, Michigan's Stacey Ervin, Syque Caesar and Adrian de los Angeles and Penn State's Felix Aronovich and Craig Hernandez. For more on the awards, click here.
Naming Names: The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) named a pommel horse skill after Michigan's Sam Mikulak. The junior became the first gymnast to complete the skill at an official FIG competition when he performed it during the men's qualification round at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Click here for more on the skill.
Three Big Ten women's rowing teams are ranked in the latest CRCA/USRowing Coaches Poll, released on Wednesday. Ohio State leads ranked conference squads, coming in at No. 3. Michigan stays put at No. 13, while Wisconsin jumps two spots to No. 14. Michigan State and Minnesota are receiving votes.
For the complete poll, click here.
Illinois 4, Southern Illinois 2 (8)
Iowa 8, Iowa State 3
Michigan State 3, Eastern Michigan
Northwestern 8, UIC 5
Ohio State 4, Wright State 0
Ohio State 4, Wright State 0
Illinois at Southern Illinois, 5 p.m.
Iowa State at Iowa, 7:30 p.m., BTN.com
Eastern Michigan at Michigan State, 5 p.m., BTN
Northwestern at UIC, 7 p.m.
Wright State at Ohio State (DH), 5 p.m., BTN.com
Southern Illinois at ILLINOIS, 7:05 p.m.
Wisconsin-Milwaukee at IOWA, 6:05 p.m.
Chicago State at NORTHWESTERN, 4 p.m.
The Big Ten is one of three conferences, joining the SEC and Pac-12, with six or more teams in the top 50 of the latest RPI. Nebraska (sixth) climbs four spots this week, while Michigan (12th), Wisconsin (23rd), Minnesota (29th), Iowa (34th) and Northwestern (45th) are also among the top 50.
Four Big Ten teams are receiving votes in the national rankings this week, including two in the top 15. Michigan appears at No. 10 in both the USA Softball and NFCA polls, while Nebraska is 14th in the USA Softball poll and tied for 16th in the NFCA standings. Wisconsin appears at No. 25 in the NFCA rankings and joins Minnesota among the teams also receiving votes in the USA Softball poll.
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