USU gymnastics: ‘Spectrum Magic’ helps lift shorthanded Aggies to victory
No. 11 Utah State Gymnastics kicked off their home season on Friday night by defeating Air Force by a score of 194.950 – 191.975. They improve to 3-1 against competition after two meets on the year.
The Aggies unveiled a new leo, labeled “Spectrum Magic,” that flashed yellow and red colors — mimicking the seats inside the Spectrum. The Aggies wanted to use Spectrum magic to their advantage.
In the first rotation Utah State started on the vault. The Aggies accomplished a team score of 48.375, with the first three contestants of the rotation scoring above a 9.700. A big finish helpedUSU lead after the first rotation 48.375 – 46.775.
“We started off strong than had a little mishap, then followed it up with another mishap, then Angel closed out the vault rotation really strong,” head coach Amy Smith said.
It was a special night for freshman Molly Arnold. Arnold, from Bloomington, Minnesota, scored a 9.800 on her first vault performance of the season, filling in for missing all-rounder Rebecca Wells due to COVID protocols. Arnold followed her vault performance with a 9.775 on the bars.
“I usually get pretty nervous for meets,” Arnold said. “But for this meet I was super confident and felt ready to go.” Arnold was slated to anchor the last routine on the floor, but USU declined to use their last exhibition.
The highest scoring rotation for the Aggies, despite a sub-9.000 score, was the bars scoring a 49.175. Incredible energy and confidence throughout the whole rotation, and Amy Smith gave credit to the fans.
“The crowd once again was awesome, and the HURD coming out, they helped so much. They helped with the energy and it was fantastic. We appreciate and love them.”
One of the more impressive routines from the night was from Eve Jackson. Jackson scored a 9.900 on the bars, the highest score of the meet. Following Jackson’s routine, Sofi Sullivan provided a strong energy push for the Aggies in a strong bar rotation scoring a 9.850. With the help of four scores above 9.775, and three above 9.850, Aggies took a 97.550 – 94.800 lead after two rotations.
The beam rotation was solid for the Aggies. A 9.800 from Kielyn McCright and a 9.875 from Sofi Sullivan, who was impressive throughout the competition, pushed the Aggies to a 145.875-143.175 lead heading into the final rotation.
Despite missing floor specialist Ariel Toomey in addition to Wells due to COVID, USU’s floor routine was strong. Amari Evans started things off with a 9.800, followed by four 9.750+ scores from the Aggies. A 9.950 from all-rounder Brie Clark, which is tied for the third-highest score in a routine in Utah State history, put the Falcons away. One of the judges rewarded Clark with a perfect 10.
Win in tow and not wanting to risk injury, USU only performed five of the six allotted routines on the floor rotation.
“We are going to be a great team,” Smith said. “We got thrown a little curveball very quickly and unexpectedly with COVID protocols. But like I said, we are going to be great, we just have to get some lineup things figured out.”
The Aggies swept the top spots in three of the four rotations and took first and second in the other. The next meet for Utah State is next Friday, Jan. 21, in the Spectrum vs Boise State.