Women's Gymnastics 1/19/2011 6:07:00 PM SUU Strategic Communication

SUU Gymnastics Looking to Remain Undefeated, Hosting Sacramento State on Friday

About the Meet: Southern Utah University will host the Sacramento State Hornets in a Western Athletic Conference clash on Friday. The Thunderbirds will enter the meet coming off perhaps the biggest upset in school history with a win over the 2010 NCAA National Champion in UCLA last week.

Southern Utah will return to full strength this week with the return of sophomore and 2010 WAC Freshman of the Year Alyssa Click set to make her season debut. Click is anticipated to appear on three events this weekend.

The Thunderbirds moved up in the most recent rankings after the 194.750 victory over UCLA. SUU moved up from No. 23 to No. 20, the same ranking the T-Birds earned entering the season.

Head Coach Scott Bauman's Thoughts: Our expectations this weekend is just to hit our routines. Our goal is always to hit each skill and not to beat Sac State or UCLA, but just to hit our routines. Sacramento State is always very tough, they have a good lineup and good coaches. They will be getting back one of their top athletes this week and so I think they will be much stronger.

About Sacramento State: Sacramento State has started the year slowly, scoring 185.875 and 189.625 in the first two meets of the season. The Hornets have struggled the most on bars and beam, averaging 45.513 and 46.538 on each event, respectively.

Kailey Hansen has tallied the top marks for the Hornets with matching 9.775's on vault and beam at the Lady Luck Invitational last weekend.

Defending the trophy: Southern Utah will enter the 2011 season as the defending Western Athletic Conference champions after capturing the trophy for the first time in school history in 2010.

Defending the titles: Sophomore Caitlin Kennedy will also enter the season with a chance to defend her conference title on beam. The Temple, Texas native scored a 9.875 on the event to take the title in 2010.

Departed Seniors: The Thunderbirds will be without departed seniors Melissa Johnson and Elise Wheeler in 2011. The pair will leave behind much to be missed, as Johnson capture the WAC vault title last year. Wheeler was a three-time All-American in 2009, two-time WAC Gymnast of the Year and the 2010 North Central Region Gymnast of the Year.

Injury bug bites early: Senior and team captain Jenna Vogt will be out for the 2011 campaign after tearing her Achilles tendon three weeks before the season was set to begin.

Preseason poll: Southern Utah University has been picked second in the annual pre-season poll as voted upon by the conference coaches, earning two first-place votes and trailing conference favorite Boise State by one point.

WAC Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Boise State (4)        23
2. Southern Utah (2)    22
3. San Jose State   14
4. Utah State   13
     Sacramento State    13
6. Cal State Fullerton    5

Follow the Thunderbirds online: SUU gymnastics fans can follow the team online at www.suutbirds.com, via facebook (facebook.com/Southern-Utah-Thunderbirds) and on twitter (twitter.com/SUUThunderbirds)

Athletes of the Week: Brooke Cersosimo and Ari Lamb swept the weekly conference awards during the first week of competition. Cersosimo was named the Verizon WAC Gymnast of the Week and Lamb was honored with the Verizon WAC Specialist of the Week.

Sweeping the Floor: Southern Utah is ranked No. 1 on floor in the North Central region and the Western Athletic Conference.

For the complete release, please click on the link at the top of the page.