Champions – Gymnasts win first WG Conference championship
The Utah State gymnastics squad made history Friday in California by winning the Western Gymnastics Conference Championship for the first time in Aggie history.
With a final score of 195.15, the USU squad tumbled over Southern Utah, Boise State and Cal State Fullerton to take home the conference title.
In the four years the WGC has been in existence, it was the first time the Ags came out on top.
Going into the floor, the final event for the Aggies, USU was only 25 hundredths of a point ahead of Southern Utah. But a combined score of 48.875 from the Ags allowed USU to secure first place.
The Aggies’ record-breaking meet started off on the right foot. Luck of the draw started the Aggies on the vault first, the event they usually start with at home meets.
Led by freshman Jackie Fogli, who had a personal best of 9.9, the Ags notched their second highest team score of the season in the event. Fogli tied for first in the event.
Senior Katie Rutherford also performed well on the vault with a season-high score of 9.8.
After the first rotation, Utah State was in the lead.
Then came the bars.
Sophomore Jessica Parenti led the way for USU on the bars, finishing in third place. But it wasn’t enough to maintain the Ags’ lead.
After the second rotation Southern Utah was on top.
After third and fifth place performances from Liesel Kohler and Ashley Barr, Utah State was able to regain a marginal lead and a strong performance on the floor was all it needed to keep it.
The Ags came through as Kohler won the event with a 9.85 two other Aggies finished with season highs in the event.
The other competitors didn’t fare as well in their final events – SUU scoring only a 48.1 on the beam to all but give Utah State Head Coach Ray Corn and his team the win.
With the victory, Rutherford and fellow senior Rachel Ropelato earned their first conference title. The seniors were in danger of becoming the first four-year gymnasts to not win a conference title since 1992 when the Ags first began competing in the Big West.
Along with the title, Corn was also honored with the WGC Coach of the Year award. Boise State’s Lindsay Ward was selected as Gymnast of the Year.
If the Ags are able to stay in the top-18 nationally after their win, they will qualify for regionals.
Seeding and locations will be announced Tuesday.
-aedmunds@cc.usu.edu