Gymnastics comes up short on road at Sacramento State
In the last meet of their four-meet road trip, the Aggie gymnastics team kept a close grasp on Western Athletic Conference foe Sacramento State Friday, but in the end fell by a final score of 190.675 to the Hornets’ 192.000.
Freshmen Paige Jones and Cammi Muhr both took event titles, giving the Aggies a total of 10 titles so far this season, which matches the overall total of last season’s event titles.
Jones won the vault with a season-high 9.825, tying for the Aggies’ top vault score of the year. Muhr landed in first place of the beam portion of the competition with a 9.725.
“We definitely had some really good highlights this meet,” Jones said. “I was pretty happy with how it went.”
“It’s definitely not where we’d like to be, we’re not quite at our potential yet,” head coach Jeff Richards said. “We did have some highlights though, we just need to bring it up a little.”
The Aggies opened the meet on the bars, led by freshman Rachel Vaske. Her score of 9.625 ended up being enough for a second-place finish. Jones took third with a 9.525. After taking two falls into account, the Aggies were in second place after the first rotation with a total of 46.775 while the Hornets had earned a 48.350 on the vault.
With the swapping of events though came the swapping of the lead.
Junior Rebecca Holliday started the Aggies on the vault with a 9.075, but scores only went up from there. Senior Jackie Dillon tied for fourth place with a 9.700 just before senior Lyndsie Boone landed a 9.800, good for second place. USU finished with a total score of 48.525, just shy of the team’s season-best.
CSUS had four falls on the bars, giving them a total score of 46.975. That put the Aggies in first with a slim lead of 95.400 to 95.325 at the halfway point of the meet.
Jones said the Aggies had a good, solid week in practice leading up to Friday’s meet.
“We really tried to focus on the details in practice this week. Sticking the landings, hitting our handstands, and just overall looking more confident,” she said. “I think it’s really starting to show in our performance.”
The Aggies moved to the floor for the third rotation, and fared fairly well after a rough start.
Sophomore Amelia Montoya had a fall in warm-ups, which made for a tough floor routine. The minor injury led to a shaky landing and minor fall, resulting in a score of 9.075.
Boone and freshman Christina Nye both received scores of 9.550. In another pair of matching scores, Jones and Dillon both notched a 9.750, tying for third place on the floor.
USU finished with 47.900 on floor while the Hornets totaled 47.975 on their beam rotation. This put the two teams in a tie at 143.300, heading into the final rotation.
The focus on details this week paid off as Aggies’ scores on the balance beam improved once again. Muhr started the rotation with her winning score of 9.725. Junior Rebecca Holliday notched a 9.700, putting her in second place behind Muhr. While there were still a couple falls, it was overall a much better night on beam for the Aggies, as they finished with a total of 47.575.
“There was a definite improvement on beam,” Jones said. “Everyone was a lot more confident and it was a lot more enjoyable.”
After four consecutive meets on the road, the Aggies are ready to come home to the comfort of the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
“It’s our place, our fans,” Jones said. “You just feel a lot more comfortable and that makes it a lot more fun.”
USU welcomes Boise State as they continue WAC competition this Friday, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m. Friday’s meet will be the annual Aggies’ Think Pink night as well as Alumni Recognition Night.
“They compete well at home. It’s a friendly environment and the equipment they like. We’re a little better of a team at home,” Richards said. “I think this meet has the potential to be a defining moment in our season.”
-megan.allen@aggiemail.usu.edu