Aggie gymnastics tied for 20th in national RQS rankings

The Utah State Women’s Gymnastics team continues to move up the Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) rankings. After debuting at 24th in the first week of the rankings announced Monday, the Aggies have now moved into a tie for 20th in the nation with a team average of 195.595.

“It’s such an honor to be ranked in the top 25,” said sophomore Madison Ward. “We’ve all been working so hard during the preseason up until now, and to see that our hard work is paying off is great.

The Aggies have had two excellent showings to propel their move up the polls, scoring a 196.300 and a 195.700 in meets against Boise State and UCLA, respectively.

The RQS rankings are determined by a team’s top six scores of the regular season, three of which must be away from home. The high score is then eliminated and the remaining five scores are averaged to obtain a team’s RQS score.

“All the hard work in transforming Utah State gymnastics over the past three years is coming to fruition,” said head coach Nadalie Walsh. “We are focused on continuing to improve and keep competing well so we can hang onto, or hopefully increase this ranking, over the second half of the season.”

The gymnastics team is not only ranked in the Top 25 of the overall rankings, but are also in the Top 25 of each individual event. The Aggies currently rank 25th nationally on both beam and vault, while ranking a respective 20th and 16th on floor and bars.

This is the first time the Aggies have cracked the Top 25 rankings at this point of the season since February of 2007.

Madison Ward was also ranked nationally among floor gymnasts. Her RQS score 9.880 places her 17th nationally.

“I am so grateful for all of my coaches throughout the years that have helped get me to where I am today,” Ward said. “Floor is my favorite event, so to be tied for 17th nationally is a huge accomplishment to me.”

The gymnastics team next faces a quad meet hosted by No. 15 Nebraska this Saturday at 6 pm. No. 20 California and Southestern Missouri will also compete.