Gymnasts fade away at the end, lose to San Jose
With the start of the second half of the gymnastics season, the USU gymnastics team was handed its first home loss of the year when it was defeated by the San Jose State University Spartans 193.975-193.750 Monday night.
The Aggies drop to 4-6 on the year as the Spartans move to 6-4.
“I was really looking forward to this event tonight as a new beginning,” said head coach Ray Corn. “It was a very disappointing performance.”
SJSU led the all-around competition with Danielle Albright and Shirla Choy finishing first, second and posting 39.175 and 39.125, respectively. USU was led by freshman Mika Houston, competing in the all-around for the second time in her career, finishing with a season-high score of 38.550.
“I’m really proud of her. Mika Houston is going to be an outstanding star for this program,” Corn said.
The Aggies got off to a solid start as they dominated the vault, recording a 48.675. Senior Megan Woolstenhulme led the Aggies with a meet-high 9.775.
After one rotation, it seemed the Aggies were up by more than .125.
Despite falls by sophomores Tina Ellis and Nicole Kilpatrick on the uneven bars, USU widened its lead on San Jose with a 48.825. Junior Jessenia Abrego, who took second place on the event with a personal record of 9.850, led the Aggies as she competed for only the second time this season on the bars.
“My confidence level is building up a lot more now that I am hitting my routines,” Abrego said.
After two rotations, the Aggies were leading by .600 over the Spartans.
Utah State struggled with the beam once again as it was forced to count two of three falls from the apparatus, allowing the team to post just a 48.000. The two highlights of the event were the return of junior Kirra Seeley, who was expected to be out for the season recovering from surgery on her right thumb, and the meet-winning 9.875 performance by Ellis.
“I was just going to exhibition tonight, but a couple of girls were hurting pretty bad,” Seeley said.
It looked as if the Aggies had a chance to pull out a victory, but they were once again forced to count a fall, allowing them to post just a 48.250 on the floor exercise. Senior Kristin O’Dell led the floor team with a score of 9.850 while Abrego continued her night of impressive performances with a 9.825 mark.
But the Spartans continued to be strong, posting a 48.200 on beam defeating the Aggies by .225.
The Aggies will be back in action Sunday as they travel to Los Angeles to compete against the defending national champion and current No. 1 UCLA as well as No. 15 University of California and the University of California at Santa Barbara.