Youthful gymnasts look to dodge first rotation jitters
Think back about five years.
The Utah State gymnastics team included competitors such as Christy Denson, who holds the top six all-around individual scores in school history, and Amber Jamison, who is first in all-time bar records (9.975) with Denson and second on the floor exercise (9.950).
Although the current Aggies (2-2) have yet to reach such marks, they do share a similar characteristic with their predecessors — they too have season-opening road jitters.
After recording second-place finishes in meets at Cal State Fullerton (192.050) and Oklahoma (192.875), the USU gymnastics team will compete at the Spectrum for the first time this season as Boise State comes to Logan.
The Broncos (0-2) finished third (191.475) at Oklahoma. Tiffany Putnam posted the highest Boise State score of the day with a 9.825 on the floor exercise.
USU holds a 44-7 all-time advantage over BSU, including a 21-2 record at home.
Schedule
The Broncos are not the only familiar face on USU’s schedule. The Aggies have meets on the docket against Utah (Feb. 7), Southern Utah (on the road on Feb. 10 and at home on March 10) and BYU (at home on Feb. 21 and on the road on March 7).
The Western Gymnastics Conference championship meet is slated for March 29 in Cedar City.
“I think it’s an outstanding schedule,” said USU Head Coach Ray Corn. “It’s a new type of schedule with us getting on board with Ohio State, and N.C. State doing a home and away. [The changes] add a new variety and a new spice as to what we are attempting to do with the schedule.”
Team Captains
Communication is key when it comes to team leaders. Corn selected sophomore Katie Rutherford and fifth-year senior Kim Scharman as team captains.
“I think they are well-respected by the team members, and their ability to communicate with [the coaching staff] is uncanny,” Corn said.
This is particularly important to Corn, because he believes the positive and negative feedback Rutherford and Scharman can provide will make the coaches even more successful.
And so far so good.
But it’s not like the coaches are starting from scratch.
Corn is entering his 26th year as USU head coach. He is the only coach in the program’s Division I history, leading the Aggies to the postseason 24 times in 25 years. He has reached the national championships five times, the most recent coming in 1991 with a 12th-place finish.
In addition to Corn, Mark Lee returns for his fifth season as an assistant. He is the former owner and coach of Rocky Mountain Gymnastics, and coached the 1988 women’s Olympic team in Seoul, Korea.
The newest member to the coaching staff is the two-time Canadian Olympian Ernestine Russell. Prior to coming to Utah State, she was the head coach at the University of Florida for 13 years. At UF, Russell won one national title and made 11 straight NCAA Championship appearances.
The Squad
For the first time in 10 years, the Aggies only have four upperclassmen. USU lost all-arounders Jessenia Abrego and Mika Houston, as well as vault and floor specialist Stephanie Gordon and bar, beam and floor gymnast Kirra Seeley.
There are nine returnees to the team, though — five of which competed in all 14 meets last year.
Two of the most prominent returning gymnasts include Rutherford and senior Nicole Kilpatrick. During the 2002 season Rutherford posted a 9.925 on bars and a 9.900 on beam.
“Last year’s freshman phenom in Katie Rutherford could be this year’s sophomore sensation,” Corn said. “We expect her to see time in the all-around.”
Kilpatrick, who struggled the last couple of seasons after recovering from rupturing her Achilles tendon as a freshman, is looking to have her best season yet.
Corn said the all-arounder has added new skills on the bars, her beam is going well and her performance on the floor exercise is about the same as last season. Corn is looking for more consistency on Kilpatrick’s vault, though.
“We are certainly hoping she finishes her collegiate career in the style and manner she would like to.”
Possibly the most impressive competitor this season though has been freshman Meagan Nelson from Las Vegas, Nev.
Nelson was named the Western Gymnastics Conference Gymnast of the Week following her 39.125 performances at Cal State Fullerton and then the USU Athlete of the Week after her 39.050 output at Oklahoma.
Prior to the season, Corn said he expected Nelson to be a stellar all-arounder.
“Her vault, beam and floor exercises are going to be fan favorites,” he said.
Overall Corn said he is excited about the team, despite how young it is. He believes its “youthful exuberance” is contagious among the team members and the coaches.
“I think once our fans see that [emotion] on the floor of competition, they will get excited too.”
–juag@cc.usu.edu