BOISE, Idaho - The Southern Utah University gymnastics team opened the 2018 season Thursday night in Idaho against Boise State. The Flippin' Birds had strong showings on vault and floor, but were not able to top the Broncos, falling 196.225-194.350.
"We had a few uncharacteristic falls tonight, but the team never panicked and they got it together and they moved on to the next event. Very proud of the progress our vault and floor teams showed tonight," head coach Scotty Bauman said. "I loved what I saw out of our freshmen tonight. Hannah Nipp was second up on bars and went 9.8, Jozwiakowski went 9.825 on floor, and then Alyssa LaDieu went 9.825 in what was a very tough situation to be in anchoring our beam team."
The Thunderbirds opened the season on the uneven bars. Kirsten Yee, Southern Utah's record holder on bars, led the way with a 9.850. Hannah Nipp and Madison Howlett both scored a 9.8 in their first taste of competition as Thunderbirds. Southern Utah fell twice on bars and had to count one of them bringing their total score on the event to a 48.200.
The Flippin' Birds then moved to vault where they had one of their better performances of the night. Their team score of 48.925 was anchored by Megan McBride's 9.9, a new career high for the sophomore. McBride was named the vault event champion at the meet. Autumn Jorgensen scored a 9.8 and Madison McBride scored a 9.775. Morgan Alfaro and Karen Gonzalez rounded out the scoring for the T-Birds with a 9.750 and a 9.700 respectively.
The Thunderbirds had their best outing of the night on floor where they scored a team total of 49.050. Freshmen Mckenna Burnside and Molly Jozwiakowski led the way on floor, each scoring a 9.825. Jorgensen, Gonzalez, and Amber Heltemes were each awarded a 9.8 for their routines as Southern Utah finished with no scores lower than 9.8.
Southern Utah finished the night on the balance beam. Jorgensen had the top score for the Thunderbirds with a 9.850. Alyssa LaDieu scored a 9.825 in her first beam routine as a Flippin' Bird. Yee scored a 9.750 and Gonzalez scored a new beam career high with a 9.725. The Thunderbirds finished with a team score of 48.175.
Madison McBride was the only Thunderbird to compete in the all-around, competing on all four events. She finished with a 37.200 in what was the first time the sophomore has competed all four events.
"In complete honesty, the falls were a bit of a surprise. They don't do that in practice and I know if they don't do it in practice then that will translate into the meets," Bauman said. "I'm really not that worried about this start. It is tough to start on the road, but the way the girls worked together down on the floor was the biggest encouragement from this meet."
The Flippin' Birds will be back in action next Friday in Provo against the Cougars of BYU.
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