USU falls in 4-way meet at BYU
USU’s women’s gymnastics team traveled to BYU on Friday to compete in their seventh meet this season, but once the meet was finished and the scores were tallied, USU came away with their seventh loss.
The quad-style meet against San Jose State, Boise State and BYU was the Aggies’ first competition with this format this season. It was also the first time the team entered the meet one strong component short. Heather Heinrich didn’t travel to Friday’s meet due to sickness. The junior from Littleton, Colo., has been a leader for the Aggies this season, bringing in the Aggies’ highest all-around score in five out of the last six meets.
With the absence of Heinrich, sophomore Nicole Simoneau was USU’s top finisher. Simoneau had her 19th meet with a 9.800 or better on the bars, a remarkable feat considering she only has 21 career meets under her belt. Her 9.850 was enough for a second-place finish behind San Jose State’s Thomasina Wallace who scored a 9.925. Simoneau was also awarded bragging rights by crushing her competition in the post-meet handstand contest.
Once again, the beam was USU’s lowest team event score at 47.150. Lyndsie Boone was USU’s top beam finisher, tying for ninth with 9.575. Senior Nicki Felley finished 11th with 9.550 and Erica Huelsmann finished in 12th with a season-high of 9.450.
The floor, which in the past three meets has been Aggie’s strongest event, gave USU their second-best event score, 48.200. Boone and Felley were awarded the team’s highest floor scores of the night with 9.725, followed by Rebecca Holliday and Huelsmann who each finished with a 9.600.
The vault proved somewhat troublesome for the USU women, scoring a 47.475 on the event. Jackie Dillon had a team high in the event with 9.775, followed by Boone and Felley who both tallied a 9.625 and Haley Hogan who scored a 9.525.
The bars were once again ruled by Simoneau, followed by Felley who was the next highest scoring Aggie on the bars at 9.725, tying her for ninth. Holliday and Dillon each scored a 9.675, followed by freshman Brandie Dickson who scored a 9.625. USU scored a total of 48.550 in the event.
USU fared well in the all-around competition, bringing in the third, fourth and fifth-highest scores. Felley was the top all-around Aggie, finishing with 38.625, followed by Boone’s 38.050 and Holliday’s 37.100.
Utah State travels next to the site of this year’s WAC championship in Sacramento, Calif., for a meet hosted by Sacramento State featuring Boise State this Friday, Feb. 28, at 8 p.m. The next home meet comes against Pittsburgh on Friday, March 6.
c.h.j@aggiemail.usu.edu