USU gymnastics tops Air Force
Utah State gymnastics defeated Air Force 193.975-186.675 in the first home meet of the season Friday in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Sophomore Bailey McIntire took the all-around competition with a career-high-tying score of 38.800.
The Aggies notched 48.900 on the vault, 48.725 on the floor, 48.600 on the beam and 47.750 on the uneven bars.
“I think they did a really great job for it being the first meet, and I expect a big improvement from this week to next week because I know the girls are going to be really hungry to fix what they didn’t do the way they do in practice,” said second-year head coach Nadalie Walsh.
“They’re going to go out, and when we see Denver, I think the girls will be even stronger. I’m really proud of their energy, and the potential is through the roof.”
Utah State started their rotation on the vault. Senior Sarah Landes led the Aggies with a second overall placement at 9.825 closely followed by junior Michelle Yasukochi and McIntire both scoring 9.800. The Falcons’ Jessica Wallander took the vault title with a 9.850.
In the second rotation the Aggies competed on the uneven bars where sophomore Charly Belliston took the title with a 9.750. Utah State swept the bars with junior McKinzey Martinez in second at 9.700 and redshirt freshman Keri Peel returned from a last season injury to notch a 9.650.
Sophomore Hayley Sanzotti, who also returned to action after a season-ending injury last year, took the beam title with a 9.800.
Utah State swept the top five in the floor exercise for its final rotation of the night, led by McIntire at 9.850. Coming in second was junior Destiny Ezell with a 9.825, tying her career high, followed by Landez at 9.750, Miller at 9.700 and Sanzotti at 9.600.
In her first year as coach last season, Walsh led the Aggies to the NCAA Regionals for the first time since 2007. Walsh is determined to use the success of their previous season to help push the Aggies to even greater things this year.
“We did a really good job of turning heads and surprising everyone last year,” Walsh said. “I think the other schools are going to be a little more threatened by us than they thought they would have been. I’m excited to see how the other teams do and hopefully repeat what we did last season.”
The Aggies will compete this year in the newly-established Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference. Other schools joining Utah State in the MRGC include BYU, Boise State, Denver and Southern Utah.
Utah State is returning 17 letterwinners, including five seniors who are expected to help the team in both performance and leadership.
“We have all tried to step up as leaders together and have had to work together to try and each find our different areas to help lead the team,” Landes said. “We want to make sure the team stays unified and give encouragement as often as possible.”
The Aggies take to the road for their next pair of meets, taking on Denver Jan. 17 and BYU Jan. 23.
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