SAN JOSE, Calif. - Jan. 30 - Southern Utah women's gymnastics completed its weekend road trip in California by securing its third Western Athletic Conference victory after a 194.925-193.300 win over the San Jose State Spartans on Saturday night. SUU gymnasts swept all but one individual title during the night as Elise Wheeler and Melissa Johnson continued their streaks of consecutive titles.
"This was a great meet for us," head coach Scott Bauman said after the meet. "I thought our floor, vault and beam teams were stellar tonight and this was just a solid weekend for us to be able to come away with three WAC victories. Our girls really stepped up to the plate on back-to-back nights."
Southern Utah led the meet from start to finish as the Thunderbirds began on bars with a 48.400, led by Wheeler's 9.875. Wheeler ultimately finished second on the event to SJSU's Thomasina Wallace, who scored a 9.900 on the event. Bars was the only event that the Thunderbirds did not claim an individual title as SUU moved to the vault during the second rotation.
Melissa Johnson scored her second consecutive 9.900 on the apparatus in as many nights to secure her fourth consecutive individual title on vault this season. The Thunderbirds finished with a team score of 48.850 with all scores above a 9.700. Southern Utah finished with the top three marks of the event with Johnson (9.900), Wheeler (9.775) and Lindsey Schultz (9.750) occupying the medal stand.
Wheeler finally shook off the runner-up finishes with a meet-best 9.825 on floor to finish first on that event during the third rotation. Freshman Michaela Chernoch made a great first impression in her first scored routine in college, finishing third on the team with a 9.700 on the event.
Southern Utah finished the meet strong with a season-best 49.075 on beam with each gymnast scoring at least a 9.725. Freshman Alyssa Click and junior Ari Lamb led the way with matching 9.850's as the duo shared the individual title on the event. The Thunderbirds finished the event with all but one of the best marks as SUU swept first through seventh place. Johnson's 9.725 on the event didn't count towards the team score, but still was better than San Jose State's final five.
Wheeler's score of 39.275 in the all-around marked her fourth consecutive all-around title this season, finishing ahead of Wallace (38.625) and Lily Swann with a 38.050.
Southern Utah will be back in action next Saturday when the Thunderbirds return home to host the Kent State Golden Flashes on Feb. 6. That meet is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. in the Centrum Arena.
