Mya Hooten, above at a meet last season, tied for first in bars and floor exercise on Friday as the Gophers tied Iowa in a dual meet. (Carlos Gonzalez, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Ties were the norm Friday night in the Gophers gymnastics team's Big Ten dual meet with No. 15 Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Both teams finished with a score of 196.875.

Mya Hooten of the No. 18 Gophers (5-2-1, 1-0-1 conference) tied for first place in two events. She was part of a three-day tie in bars (9.875) also involving teammate Tiarre Sales. And Hooten also tied for first in floor exercise (9.975)

Brooklyn Rowray of Minnesota tied for first on beam (9.900).

The Gophers' Gianna Gerdes did win the all-around (39.375, a career high) without anyone tying her — but then, she was the lone competitor in all four events.

"This was a really great step forward for the team," Gophers coach Jenny Hansen said. "It was the first meet for us ending on beam, and the team handled the pressure really well. Tying with Iowa on the road is a huge testament to our team's growth so far this season."

Minnesotan wins para-biathlon

Park Rapids native Aaron Pike won a world championship Friday in para-biathlon, earning the gold medal in the men's sitting 12.5-kilometer individual race at the FIS Para Nordic World Skiing Championships in Ostersund, Sweden.

The title was the first career world championship for Pike, who won silver medals in the 10k and sprint biathlon earlier in the week. The six-time Paralympian was 19-for-20 in the shooting portion of Friday's competition and finished 6.1 seconds ahead of silver medalist Scott Meenagh of Great Britain. The three medals mark Pike's largest haul in his four career appearances at the world championships.

Another Minnesotan, Sydney Peterson of Lake Elmo, earned a bronze medal Tuesday in the women's standing cross-country sprint.

Pike and Peterson both are set to compete Saturday in middle-distance cross-country races.

RACHEL BLOUNT

Diggins third in World Cup skiing

Jessie Diggins won her fourth medal of the World Cup cross-country season Friday, finishing third in a 10k freestyle individual start race in Les Rousses, France.

Diggins, of Afton, skied consistently fast throughout the race, remaining among the top three at every checkpoint. Her time of 24 minutes, 29.3 seconds was 20.5 seconds behind winner Ebba Andersson of Sweden.

Diggins is third in the World Cup overall standings and fourth in the distance standings.

RACHEL BLOUNT

Loons tie in friendly

Minnesota United played Philadelphia Union to a 2-2 draw in a preseason friendly on Friday morning while training near Orlando.

Veteran Robin Lod and Diogo Pacheco each scored equalizer goals for the Loons, Lod just before halftime and Pacheco in the 77th minute. A former University of Akron player originally from Portugal, Pacheco scored three goals in 22 games for the club's MNUFC2 reserve team last season.

The Loons will complete their friendly game schedule in Florida against Orlando City on Wednesday before they return to Minnesota.

JERRY ZGODA

Etc.

Alexys Berger of the Gophers took second place in the pole vault in the Jack Johnson Classic at the University of Minnesota Fieldhouse. Her vault of 13 feet, 10 inches was the fourth best indoors in program history. Marleen Mulla of South Dakota cleared 14-16½ on her first attempt to win the event.
Sophomore Bar Soloveychik of the Gophers broke the oldest school record in men's swimming and diving with a time of 8 minutes, 54.69 seconds in the 1,000-yard freestyle on the first day of a two-day, four-team meet at Northwestern. Justin Mortimer had set the mark 22 years ago. ... Drew Bennett of Minnesota won the 1-meter diving event with a career-best 316.75, more than 22 points ahead of the field.