Aggie gymnasts buck Broncos for first time this season
Despite having a 2.5-point lead after two rotations, the Utah State University gymnastics team narrowly defeated Boise State University Wednesday 193.400-193.350 in the Spectrum.
“That was a big gap for them to have caught up,” said sophomore gymnast Mika Love Houston.
Head Coach Ray Corn said, “We were very fortunate that our lead was big enough we could still win.”
The Aggies’ lead in the first half was due to them having no falls on the vault and the uneven bars.
The Broncos, on the other hand, had to count two falls on the vault and one on the bars.
“We certainly had it going in the first two events,” Corn said. “The vault was a very bright spot.”
USU led both events with scores of 48.825-47.425 on the vault and 48.925-47.825 on the bars.
But the Aggies’ clean performance ended in the third rotation with three falls in a row on the beam from some of the team’s most solid gymnasts which left to with a team score of 47.850.
Houston fell in her performance, and nearly fell a second time. She ended with a score of 9.325.
Jessenia Abrego and Nicole Kilpatrick followed Houston, both with falls of their own and ended with marks of 9.275 and 9.350, respectively.
Kilpatrick said Houston’s fall affected her and the other Aggies.
“As soon as one person falls, everyone gets more nervous than they should,” she said. “We shouldn’t worry if someone fell before us, but we do.”
To make matters worse, the Broncos broke a school record with their team’sbeam performance.
They scored a 49.500, which included a perfect 10 by freshman Marie Lucas, who had only competed once before in a college meet.
“That was probably one of the highest scores in the country,” Ray said of BSU’s beam mark.
The Broncos exceptional beam score surprised many, especially since the team had scored a 47.025 on Feb. 22 in Provo, the last time they met with the Aggies.
“I thought they might have caught up and beat us,” said freshman gymnast Katie Rutherford. “I was surprised because a lot of times they have to count falls on the beam.”
On the floor routine, USU had two out-of-bounds marks and a fall.
Sarah Colson, who started the floor for the Aggies, stepped out of bounds on her first tumbling series and also had a fall.
Allison Rosenthal stepped out after her first series, as well, but ended with a mark of 9.650.
Jessenia Abrego fell on her last tumble and ended with a score of 9.150. In the middle of her routine, the Broncos broke out in cheers for Lucas’ 10.000 mark, which may have affected her performance.
Corn also said her Achilles may have been a cause in the break from her usually solid performance on the floor.
“Jessenia has a bad Achilles, and she felt that in that last pass,” Corn said. “Perhaps we’ll hold her out of a couple meets.”
Although the Aggies knew BSU was doing well in the fourth rotation, Kilpatrick said they were still able to focus on their floor routine.
“We weren’t focusing on what they were doing. We were focused on what we were doing,” she said.
The Aggies finished the floor routine with a score of 47.800. The Broncos scored a 48.600.
“For the most part, everybody did well,” Houston said. “It was good to see a lot of the freshmen do really well.”
Corn said, “The bright part is that we learned to win. Maybe this is our upswing now.”
Rutherford was chosen as Coca-Cola’s outstanding gymnast of the meet following her marks of 9.850 on the bars and 9.900 on the beam.
“Katie Rutherford had an exceptional evening,” Corn said.
Rutherford said, “I’ve been trying to stick that bar routine for a long time, and I finally nailed it. That was my best score ever.”
The Aggies will head east Saturday to compete in a meet with host Missouri, as well as Denver and Ohio State. USU will return home on on March 8 to host Arizona State and Southern Utah.