Aggies save the best for last
The Utah State University gymnastics team finished its regular season with a bang on Saturday in Cedar City, Utah, finishing the WAC tournament in fourth place and having three gymnasts qualifying for the regional competition.
The Aggies went into the WAC tournament ranked sixth, with Denver first and Boise State second. They scored a season-high at 195.100 and won the uneven bars event with a 49.225.
“We all knew that this was going to be our last meet,” said junior Paige Jones. “We wanted to have fun and relax and that’s what we did.”
Boise State’s Caitlin Mann earned first place in the all-around with a 39.475, Moriah Martin from Denver was second with a 39.425 and Kelsey Black, also from Boise State, was third with a 39.325. USU’s Sarah Landes finished fourth with a 39.175.
Three gymnasts received all-WAC honors, including Paige Jones, who was named to the all-WAC first-team and achieved a season-best score on uneven bars with a 9.900.
“I went 9.900 for the first time in my career and to have that happen during WAC was amazing,” Jones said.
Freshman Michelle Yasukochi was named to the all-WAC second-team on the balance beam and achieved a career-high score of 9.825. Sophomore Sarah Landes earned all-WAC second-team honors for the second year in a row.
“It was focusing on the little details. I think they just went in there and it was weird. They were really comfortable,” USU head coach Jeff Richards said. “Once we got into competition, it’s like they finally just figured out how to make it in competition as well. You could tell it was happening, there was no doubt in your mind.”
Boise State won the WAC title with a 196.225, Denver followed closely with a score of 196.125, Sacramento State was third at 195.500, USU came in fourth with a 195.100, Southern Utah got fifth with a 194.925 and San Jose State finished sixth with a score of 194.700.
In addition to achieving their season-high score, the Aggies also got season-best scores
on the balance beam with a 48.625 and the uneven bars with a 49.225, which they also grabbed the event title in.
“We finished bars ahead of everybody,” Richards said. “To top Boise and Denver, that was a pretty big deal. Those teams have had some high-49 scores.”
The Aggies finished their regular season on a good meet. Landes hopes to start off next year similar to the end of this one.
“I’m really excited for next year,” Landes said. “We’ll have a lot of depth on the team. My goal is to start off next year how we finished this year. I hope this is encouragement. We’re going to start off how we finished and make it to regionals as a team.”
Richards said his team will have more depth next season with currently-injured gymnasts being healed and incoming freshman.
“We’ve got some really good kids coming in,” Richards said. “We’re only losing two seniors. We’re losing two routines. Anyone that gets healthy and comes back, we’re looking at that as a bonus.”
Not only did the Aggies get their season-high score, but three gymnasts qualified for regionals. Sarah Landes and Paige Jones qualified for the all-around and Stefanie Daley qualified on the balance beam. Landes will rotate with UCLA and Jones will rotate with LSU.
“Personally, I’ve expected to have a good meet and at that meet be able to qualify for nationals two weeks after regionals,” Landes said. “That’s what I’m hoping to do, expecting to do. I want to be able to represent Utah State in a good way and make a good name for our school.”
Six other schools will be competing at the regional championship including UCLA, LSU, Arizona, Central Michigan, North Carolina State, Ohio State and individuals from the Air Force Academy.
The NCAA North Central Regional Championship will be held at 5 p.m. April 6 at Ohio State’s St. John’s Arena in Columbus.
– daniellekmanley@gmail.com
Twitter: @daniellekmanley