Ward-Sessions ties school record as Aggies lose on senior night
Friday night in the Spectrum was filled with both happy and sad emotions as the gymnastics team celebrated and honored their seniors, and dealt with a loss to Southern Utah University.
Despite the loss 196.350 to 195.275, one of two seniors honored during the meet, Madison Ward-Sessions, was the highlight of the night by scoring a 9.975 on the floor and winning the title, despite her rocky start to the meet.
“At the beginning of the meet Madi (Ward-Sessions) didn’t quite settle in. She fought it throughout the meet and got a handle on it in the last event, and good thing she did cause it was phenomenal,” head coach Amy Smith commented. “In my opinion, it should have been a ten because it was absolutely gorgeous! I’m just really proud of her for battling through and finishing on such a strong, strong mark.”
Ward-Sessions finished last out of 12 on the vault with a 9.250, and last on the balance beam with a 9.175 after a fall.
Madison Ward-Sessions performs the vault at USU’s Gymnastics team’s meet against SUU on March 8th
“I was definitely stressed for this meet, just because it is my last meet in the Spectrum. I have a lot of family here supporting me and watching me, so I just got too much in my head so I was not as relaxed as I usually am. It went a little bit downhill for some events, but I was able to bring it back for floor.” said Ward-Sessions.
Ward-Sessions 9.975 floor score stole the show, as one of the judges had deemed her performance worthy of a perfect 10.00 score. That score is now tied in school history next to Christy Denson in 1999 for highest score during the floor routine, and solidified the senior’s title count to 20 individual titles.
Also honored in the meet was fellow senior Emily Briones. Briones ended her Spectrum career by finishing in a tie for sixth on the beam with a 9.775 on the beam, and 9.550 on the floor.
USU Celebrates a completed exercise at their meet against SUU on March 8th
“It’s just so crazy, I never thought it would actually happen, but here I am,” said Ward-Sessions. “It’s so special that me and Em (Briones) can go out there together and compete together. This team is so fun, it’s the funnest team I’ve ever been apart of, so that just made it so much more special.”
The team started the night on the vault, where sophomores Autumn DeHarde and Leighton Varnadore both tied for fourth with 9.775 scores. That score serves as a career-high tying mark for DeHarde.
In the bars rotation, junior MaKayla Bullitt took home an individual title by tying for first with a 9.875 score. Freshman Grace Rojas also took home a career-best 9.850 to tie for third place in the event alongside Ward-Sessions. Junior Madi Tueller tied for 10th with a career-high 9.725.
Makayla Bullitt performs the uneven bars at USU’s Gymnastics team’s meet against SUU on March 8th
Varnadore tied for third in the beam routine with a 9.825, and was able to replicate another 9.875 during her floor routine to match her career-high score. In addition to these scores, Varnadore placed second in the all-around and tied her career-high again with her 39.225, ahead of Ward-Sessions who finished third with 38.250.
The Aggies will face off against No. 2 UCLA at 5 p.m. at the Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, California on Saturday, March 16.