Aggies flip past Cougars in Provo
Utah State gymnastics traveled to Provo Friday where they defeated in-state rival BYU on their home floor for the first time since 1999.
The Aggies recorded their highest beam score of the season at a 49.275. That score put them in the record books with the third highest beam score in school history. USU recorded an overall score of 195.500 to the BYU’s 195.300 to take meet.
“We feel really great,” said USU head coach Nadalie Walsh. “It’s super exciting to have it come down to the last rotation. We did a phenomenal job on beam in the last rotation.”
Junior McKinzey Martinez took the all-around title for the Aggies finishing with a career-high of 39.250. Senior Sarah Landes finished the all-around competition in fourth place with a 39.075. Sophomore Bailey McIntire came in fifth place in all-around with a score of 39.000.
The Aggies started the meet on the uneven bars where they notched a 48.575 overall. Martinez led the pack with a score of 9.775 closely followed by Landes, and sophomore McIntire at 9.725.
Utah State moved next to the vault finishing the second rotation down 97.900-97.435 to BYU. Martinez continued her all-around performance tying for first place with a 9.850, and Landes finished in fifth with a 9.800.
The Aggies took their first lead of the night on their floor exercises in the third rotation. Led by a tie for third-place by McIntire with a 9.850, Utah State notched a 48.800 on the event. Going into the fourth rotation, Utah State had a slim lead of 146.225-146.075.
Maintaining their composure, Utah State went into the beam rotation and could do no wrong. Utah State took the first five spots in the event led by Landes and Martinez tied at 9.875.
“It’s great that the judges rewarded them for how good their routines were,” Walsh said. “It just makes it even sweeter because it was pretty hard to get a good score on any of the events the entire night, even though the girls did an excellent job. I’m really, really proud of the girls.”
The Aggies return to Logan where they will take on Mountain Rim Gymnastics conference rival Boise State and UC Davis in a tri meet on Friday. The meet will take place in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum at 7 p.m.
— emilymarieduke@gmail.com
Twitter: @missemilymduke