Aggies hoping to pad RQS for regionals
The No. 29-ranked USU women’s gymnastics squad will travel to Cedar City, Utah, to compete in the Western Athletic Conference championships on Saturday.
Last year the team finished fourth out of six teams at the championship match. Senior Jessica Parenti-Otte led the way for the Aggies as she finished second in the all-around competition with an overall score of 38.875.
The Aggies go into the meet ranked No. 1 in the conference and are coming into the meet off of a 194.775-to-192.725 win on the road at Boise State. Sophomore Nicki Felley won the all-around competition with a score of 39.000. She barely edged out teammate Meagan Lewis, who scored a 38.900.
Felley said she was glad to have a good performance going into the championships because it will help her confidence.
“It gives me a lot of confidence knowing that I can hit the routines that I try in practice,” Felley said.
Going into the meet, Head Coach Ray Corn said the team has tried to approach this meet just like any other.
“We trained exactly this week like we did last week and the week before. Our preparation has been the same,” Corn said.
He said though it is not just any other match, and the team is getting up for the challenge.
“You would like to think that you have to approach it like it is just another meet, but we all know that it’s impossible,” Corn said. “It’s like saying that Utah and BYU is just another competition in football or basketball.”
The nice thing for the Aggies is that they already have a good regional qualifying score, so regardless of what happens at this meet, they should be going to the regional meet.
“A lot of pressure is off of us knowing that there is a 90 percent chance that we are in the regional meet already,” Corn said. “There is always that 10 percent chance that you can get bumped out. Sometimes those things happen.”
The fact that the Aggies have pretty much secured a spot in the regional match does not mean the team will relax and take it easy.
“We’re going there with the attitude that we’re not going there to take second place. We’re going there to win,” Corn said. “If the ladies remain as focused as they did at Boise State, then we have the ability to do so.”
Felley agrees with her coach and said it is the goal for everyone to compete well so the team can come home with a championship ring.
“I want to hit the routines the way that I know how to do, so that I can make my team proud. All of us are going in hoping that we can win,” Felley said.
The teams that will be competing in the meet are Boise State, Cal State Fullerton, Sacramento State, San Jose State and Southern Utah ( the host team).
Although the Aggies have been ranked No. 1 in the league for 12 of the 13 weeks of competition, Corn said he knows it will take a perfect outing to win.
“Everybody right now is doing their best gymnastics. It’s going to be a close, contested meet. It is going to be the team that makes absolutely no mistakes that will be the winner,” Corn said.
“I hope that my team is prepared, that they have got the attitude that we’re not going down there to take second. We’re going to be focused. We’re going to give it everything we got to stay on the equipment and win the thing,” he said.
-samabry@cc.usu.edu