U senior gymnasts look to stand out in deep field

The senior gymnasts on the Gophers' roster have been waiting for this day for four years. On their home floor at the Sports Pavilion, many of them will compete in Saturday's Big Ten women's gymnastics championships.

The rest of the Gophers are excited, too -- and not just because they are the hosts. Six of the Big Ten's seven teams are ranked in the nation's top 25, which should make for a closely contested meet. Ninth-ranked Michigan, which has won 18 conference championships, will be trying for its fifth in a row. But No. 10 Penn State has come on strong in the second half of the season, and several other teams are poised to make a run at the Wolverines.

The chase for individual titles will be intense, too. Penn State's Sharaya Musser and Michigan's Kylee Botterman are the top two all-around performers in the nation, and both are ranked in the top five in vault. The Gophers' standouts include senior Kristin Furukawa (bars) and freshmen Kayla Slechta (vault) and Dusti Russell (balance beam and floor exercise).

"You can talk about every team and say, 'Yeah, they could do it,' " said Gophers coach Meg Stephenson, whose team is ranked No. 21. "If we all put it out there, it's going to be anyone's game."

SCOUTING THE GOPHERSWith upperclassmen battling injuries this season, the Gophers needed their freshmen to hit their stride quickly -- and they did. Slechta, of Shakopee, has been the team's top scorer on vault in 10 of 11 meets this year, while Russell overcame an elbow injury to excel in floor exercise and balance beam.

Slechta has won the vault competition at eight meets and has scored a 9.8 or higher in all 11. Her 9.925 at the Best of Minnesota meet tied the fourth-best score in program history. Also a reliable performer in floor exercise, she will compete in the all-around this weekend.

Russell sat out five weeks because of her injury, but she has won two floor titles and two beam titles this season. Furukawa, the Gophers' top-performing senior, has won beam at two meets and was second in the event at last year's Big Ten championships. But she has made her biggest mark on uneven bars, where her blend of artistry and technique has earned titles at five meets this season.

The Gophers are the only team other than Michigan to have won the Big Ten championship in the past 19 years, with titles in 2006 and 1998.

SCOUTING THE FIELD

Penn State has finished second in the Big Ten team competition 10 times, but the Nittany Lions never have won the championship. This could be their breakthrough year, but Michigan won't yield easily.

Botterman, the Wolverines' senior co-captain, won 27 of the 55 events she competed in this season. A two-time conference champion in floor exercise, she is the league's top-ranked performer in floor and vault and is ranked in the nation's top five in both events. Three other Wolverines -- Natalie Beilstein (vault), Sarah Curtis (bars) and Trish Wilson (bars) -- also are past Big Ten champions.

Penn State is led by Musser, a sophomore who is the No. 1 all-arounder in the nation. She is ranked in the top 25 in all four events, and teammate Natalie Ettl -- the defending Big Ten champion in bars -- is No. 3 in the nation in that event. Iowa (No. 14), Ohio State (No. 15) and Illinois (No. 16) have the talent to challenge as well. Ohio State's Sarah Miller has been the Big Ten freshman of the week six times this season, tying a conference record. Illinois' Allison Buckley has won 62 event titles in her career, a school record, and last week earned the Illini's highest scores ever in all-around (39.550) and beam (9.950).