High road score for gymnasts
Call it irony.
After losing to Minnesota last week from costly falls on the beam, the Aggie gymnastics squad downed Western Athletic Conference opponent Boise State with their best performance coming on the beam.
USU finished the final regular season meet with a 194.775 performance, topping the Bronco’s score of 192.725 to earn the victory Friday night in Boise, Idaho.
The 194.775 score is the second highest road score for USU this year.
“We proved that it takes the entire team to finish a season,” Head Coach Ray Corn said.
The vault, bar and floor routines were decidedly dominated by Boise State as the top scores were all for the team in orange and blue. BSU’s DeAvera Todd placed first in both the vault and bars with a score of 9.925 on both events. She also placed third in the all-around with a score of 38.825.
Led by Todd’s performance, the Broncos seemed poised to take the meet as they led in three of the four events, but the beam gave trouble to Boise State as they scored a low 45.975 as a team.
The Aggies dominated the beam with the top three scores all held by USU. Senior all-arounder Meagan Lewis took first in the beam with a high score of 9.800.
Freshman Heather Heinrich redeemed the two falls she had in the last meet against the Gophers with a tie for second place with fellow Aggie Nicki Felley. Both athletes posted a score of 9.750. Boise State’s highest score on the beam was a sixth-place finish by Todd with a score of 9.400.
USU posted a team score of 48.650 on the beam. Though the beam was the only event the Aggies won, it was enough to win the meet. The Aggies also performed well on the vault, delivering their highest team score of 48.850. USU averaged a team score of 48.700 on each event.
Felley won the all-around for the Aggies with a score of 39.000. She was closely followed by Lewis, who finished with a score of 38.900.
The gymnastics team will have a week of rest before heading to the WAC Championships in the Centrum Arena in Cedar City on Saturday, March 31, at 6 p.m.
The Aggies currently lead the WAC with a Regional Qualifying Score of 194.005. Southern Utah University follows close behind with a RQS of 193.775 and are trailed slightly by San Jose State with a score of 193.295.
-sethhawkins@cc.usu.edu