Ags edged out by tight competition
Going into the Western Athletic Conference gymnastics tournament in Cedar City on Saturday, Coach Ray Corn said he hoped his team would be focused enough to not take second place.
His hope came true, but not in the way he wanted it to.
The USU gymnastics squad finished the WAC Championship in third place with a season-high score of 195.125. The victor of the meet was Sacramento State, who finished with a score of 195.275. They were followed closely by Southern Utah University, who scored 195.255.
Going into the championship meet, USU was ranked No. 1 in the WAC and No. 29 in the nation with a Regional Qualifying Score of 194.505. The Aggies were ranked just slightly ahead of Southern Utah University, with an RQS of 194.240, and San Jose State (193.560). Though USU led by a small margin, they were on track to claim the title.
Even during the meet the Aggies seemed to be competing at the level required to win the meet. Senior Jessica Parenti-Otte led the team by placing first in the vault with a near-perfect score of 9.900. She also placed first on the parallel bars (9.875) and was the champion of the all-around, finishing with a score of 39.350.
Parenti-Otte was named WAC Gymnast of the Year for her performance during the meet and for her consistency throughout the year. She also finished second in the all-around in the championship meet last year and has won the all-around two other times this season.
The first event of the night for the Aggies was the balance beam, where the Aggies finished with a season-high team score of 48.850. The Aggies were led on the beam by sophomore Nicki Felley, who posted a career-high score of 9.825. She was joined in top scoring for the Aggies by Parenti-Otte (9.800) and Meagan Lewis (9.775).
Though USU delivered the best beam performance of the year, it was not enough to compete with the 49.325 score delivered by Sacramento State. The Hornets claimed five of the top six scores on the beam, led by Melissa Genovese.
The Aggies returned in the third rotation for the floor exercise, following a bye in the second rotation. Lewis tied for first with a score of 9.850 to lead USU to a first-place finish in the floor routine. Teammate Megan Tschida followed close behind to take third with a score of 9.825. Finishing first in the floor exercise put the Aggies in second place after the third rotation, just behind Sacramento State.
In the fourth rotation, the Aggies took first in the vault with a team score of 48.950. USU was led by Parenti-Otte’s season-high score of 9.900. Freshman Heather Heinrich and junior Katie Omann tied for third place with career-high scores of 9.850.
Going into the final rotation, the Aggies were poised to claim the championship title after having finished first in two other events. But a last-place finish on the bars with a score of 48.525 wasn’t enough to propel the Aggies to a first place finish in the meet.
Parenti-Otte placed first on the bars with a score of 9.875 and was followed by Lewis, who scored a 9.825. Felley tied for fourth with a score of 9.800.
The Aggies are waiting for the final rankings to be released to see if they will qualify to compete in the regional championships, which will be held on April 14 in Denver, Colo.
-sethhawkins@cc.usu.edu