Gymnasts wrap regular season placing third in tri-meet
The Utah State gymnastics team ended its regular season Saturday with a tri-meet against Southern Utah University and No. 17 University of Iowa. Coming off of a season-high final of 148.550 against Cal State Fullerton, USU looked to carry its momentum into Saturday’s action.
The Aggies posted a total score of 193.150 and a season-high on vault but finished in third. The Iowa Hawkeyes finished with a final total of 196.450 followed by the SUU Thunderbirds who narrowly missed a win with a score of 196.400.
Utah State started the afternoon on bars, where junior Rebecca Holiday tied her season-high with a score of 9.725. That score, and a 9.750 from junior Nicole Simoneau, led the Aggies to a 48.475 total for rotation one.
Following the bars action, Utah State moved to the beam, an event that has given the Aggies trouble all season. Senior Lyndsie Boone put together a solid routine for a score of 9.700 and leading all Aggies on the event. Senior Jackie Dillon also scored well with a 9.675.
“We’re a pretty inconsistent team on that event,” Richards said. “It was looking pretty good during warm-ups but then we got out there and looked a little tired.”
After posting season-highs on beam during each of the past three meets, USU was unable to continue the streak. The Aggies tallied a score of 47.500 missing the season-high of 48.625 scored a week ago against Cal State Fullerton.
In their third rotation, the Aggies moved to the floor exercise and looked to pick up some ground lost on beam.
USU put together a strong effort with high scores from freshman Paige Jones’ 9.750 and Dillon with a 9.775 to close out the rotation.
For the final event, the Aggies competed on the vault were they posted a season-high score of 48.600. Boone’s score of 9.800 led Utah State while Jones and Dillon scored a 9.775 to help the Aggies in their best performance on the event all season. Dillon’s score tied her season-high.
“Vault was something I had kind of focused on more this week,” Richards said. “It really paid off.”
Both Boone and Dillon scored 38.875 to tie for fourth in the all-around competition. The seniors led the Aggies in three of the four events.
After the meet, a ceremony was held by SUU to honor both Richards and SUU coach Scott Bauman to celebrate the 20th anniversary as coaches for the duo.
“It was a lot of fun to be with some of the coaches and athletes again,” Richards said of his return to SUU.
The Aggies’ season finale was fitting as Richards has history with both SUU and Iowa. Richards got his coaching start at SUU and was an assistant coach at the University of Iowa before coming to Utah State.
Utah State will travel to San Jose, Calif., for the Western Athletic Conference championships on March 19. The Aggies look to improve on last year’s third-place WAC finish.
– meredith.kinney@aggiemail.usu.edu