PROVO, Utah - Jan. 14 - Southern Utah gymnastics surrendered the lead following the third rotation on Thursday night, but a strong showing on the road during the final rotation on beam swung the lead back to the Thunderbirds favor as SUU captured a 194.100 to 193.050 season-opening victory at Brigham Young University. The win marks the fourth straight for the T-Birds over the Cougars in as many meets.
"I'm extremely proud of how we did tonight," head coach Scott Bauman said after the meet. "The team was strong and confident on beam and you could see it in their eyes that they knew they were going to hit."
Southern Utah finished the final rotation, scoring nothing less than a 9.725 on beam as Ari Lamb led the way with 9.800. Lamb's performance was after a shaky performance on floor where the junior scored an 8.200, including a one-tenth neutral deduction, in her first appearance on floor during her collegiate career.
The floor exercise proved to be troublesome for both schools as each team scored meet lows of 47.875 for the T-Birds and 47.475 for the Cougars as BYU scored a total of five one-tenth neutral deductions. Southern Utah's Bailey Baker and Shannon Coughlin did not seemed fazed by the mishaps as the duo shared the individual title on the event with matching 9.750's.
The Thunderbirds made their biggest splash during the second rotation when the team moved to vault, scoring the highest team score of the night in a 48.900. Melissa Johnson recorded the top mark of the night, tallying a 9.875 to lead SUU on the event and to claim the individual title.
Southern Utah began the night on bars with Baker just missing an individual title with a second-place finish of 9.775 in her first action on the uneven bars since coming to Cedar City. Fellow senior Elise Wheeler ended the evening as the all-around champion, scoring a 38.925 with scores of 9.825 on vault, 9.675 on bars, 9.750 on beam and 9.675 on floor. The marks were despite a case of the stomach flu that had kept Wheeler from practicing at full speed during the week.
SUU gymnastics will now turn its attention to the team's home opener next Friday night when the Thunderbirds host the Utah State Aggies in the Centrum Arena on January 22. That meet is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.
