USU gymnasts blast Seawolves
In a night in which five seniors were recognized, the USU gymnastics squad beat the visiting Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves, 194.525 to 186.750.
“Their performance level was more than I could have even imagined. We fought, we stayed on the equipment, we didn’t come off there, and that is what I expressed to them,” USU Head Coach Ray Corn said. “They showed that they have grit, they have got toughness, and they have got that street fight in them that they will do everything possible to stay on the equipment.”
The night started off well for USU when Senior Meagan Lewis scored a personal season-high 9.8 on the vault in the first routine of the night.
A few turns later, fellow senior Jessica Parenti-Otte scored a 9.825. Three other Aggies, Heather Heinrich, Katie Oman and Devin Markle each scored a 9.750.
After the first rotation, USU had more than a two point lead, and they never looked back.
“It wasn’t our best performance, but it was not one to be down about. We are replacing a score, so that is good,” Parenti-Otte said.
The second rotation started slow for the Aggies when Freshman Heather Heinrich couldn’t land her dismount from the uneven bars. However, fellow freshman Devin Markle quickly turned things around as she scored a career-high 9.800. Parenti-Otte ended up receiving the top score from the judges, getting a 9.850.
In the third rotation, the Aggies were on the beam, and it was the first time in a while that the whole team was able to stay up.
“It was a good meet for us. We stayed on beam as a team as that was the first time we have done that since San Jose State,” Lewis said.
There was some controversy over the beam score of Aggie freshman Devin Markle. She scored a 9.175 which, according to coach Corn, was too low, and he let the officials know about it.
“They threw Devin Markle a 9.15 with a 9.8 start value. They said she didn’t connect two of her leaps,” Corn said. “I can understand that. I still think the score was extremely low. There were fallen routines that were scored 9.25, 9.3 and that is what I could not understand, and that is what I was trying to express to them.”
Junior Megan Tschida led USU in the floor routine by scoring a 9.875. The next two highest Aggie scores came from two freshmen, Nicki Felley and Devin Markle who scored 9.825 and 9.80 respectively.
Although it was Senior Night, the Aggies had two freshmen and a sophomore competing in the all-around competition.
“I hope that people have recognized that we have seen two freshmen and a sophomore compete in the all-around. There is a foundation here that is going to be very good and very tough,” Corn said.
Two pieces of that foundation that will have to be replaced are Parenti-Otte and Lewis, who finished 1-2 in the all-around.
Both seniors were told by Corn that they would be getting some rest down the stretch of the season, but they have yet to see it.
“You get used to it,” said Lewis, who scored a 38.800 in the all-around. “You learn how to recover and how to take it easy in practice some days if you need to, because you know you can hit the routines that you are doing. And you don’t need as much practice so if you have to take a day off. It has been fun. I don’t think either of us would want to be out.”
Parenti-Otte, who won the all-around competition with a score of 39.050, has been waiting for some rest but said both she and Lewis will always compete when given the chance.
“You kind of think sometimes that you want out, but none of us will ever say pull us. I don’t want to go, because that’s not us,” Parenti-Otte said.
Since it was Senior Night, three other seniors were recognized in addition to Lewis and Parenti-Otte. Ashley Barr, Rachael Mandy and Alex Martin were all recognized for their contribution to USU.
“I really believe in the accolades, that they have amassed here at Utah State. They truly depict what we would want to consider as an Aggie athlete,” Corn said.
-samabry@cc.usu.edu