Gymnasts have rough go of it at Hunstman Center
The Utah State gymnastics team was far from perfect last Friday night in Salt Lake.
The team scored their second-lowest score of the season-a 189.650 mark-to place third to the University of Utah (197.200) and Southern Utah (193.100).
The Aggies had maintained a 191.935 season average, but Utah State saw their lowest performance on the balance beam and floor exercise, where they tallied marks of 46.050 and 46.800, respectively.
“We’re not going to beat many people scoring those types of scores,” said USU head gymnastics coach Ray Corn. “There’s nothing that I can do or say that can temper the ladies at this point in time. We are a good enough gymnastics team to get to the regional meet, but I don’t know at this point in time how good we are to beat anybody.”
Utah recorded its third-best season score. The Utes captured first place in every event.
Almost 13,000 people filled the arena where fans displayed signs that said “10.0 for Utah,” and applause would rise every time the Utes hit high scores.
Although Utah State started the meet and recorded their season high on the uneven parallel bars with a 48.450, it was not enough to keep the Aggies close.
Freshman Nicole Simoneau tied for fourth place on the bars with a 9.825 followed by freshman Chelsea Mardquardt with a 9.725. It was Marquardt’s second time in bars action after returning from a knee injury.
No Ute scored lower than a 9.725 on the bars. All-American Ute senior Ashley Postell recorded a 9.875 on bars and led the meet with a 10 on the vault.
The Aggies saw their biggest hit on their second rotation-the balance beam. They suffered two falls from senior Kelly Patterson, one fall from junior Nicki Felley and two falls from Megan Tschida.
Sophomore Heather Heinrich led the Aggies with a 9.700 on the balance beam while Simoneau was the second Aggie to place a 9.650.
After one fall occurred, a domino effect of falls took place on the balance beam, Heinrich said.
“I honestly can’t tell you what happened tonight,” Felley said. “I don’t know what happened.”
After what Corn said was another “tacky” floor routine, Utah State recorded one of their lowest scores this season on floor.
Tschida led the Aggies with a 9.675 on the floor exercise. Utah State suffered one fall from freshman Jackie Dillon as she threw her last pass and lost balance after her final landing.
“The fall from Jackie Dillon really shocked me,” Corn said.
The Aggies wrapped up the night with their final performance on the vault. Utah and Southern Utah surpassed the Aggies with a 49.450 hit from Utah and a 48.625 hit from Southern Utah as Utah State placed in third with a 48.350.
“I watered down everyone’s routine (on vault) so that we could look good and get some decent scores and go home safely,” Corn said. “What the girls need to do is show a little more courage and step it up and be a lot more aggressive than what they have been.”
Utah State moves to 3-9 overall and with the loss to Southern Utah, drops to 1-5 in the Western Athletic Conference.
Utah is 8-0, and SUU moves to a 6-3 overall record and 4-2 in the WAC.
Next up for USU is a dual meet against Denver Feb. 29.
-candice.sandness@aggiemail.usu.edu