Women's Gymnastics 1/30/2011 2:39:00 AM SUU Strategic Communication

Southern Utah Claims Three Individual Titles as Thunderbirds Finish Third

PROVO, Utah - Jan. 29 - Southern Utah University gymnastics was on track to remain undefeated on the year at Brigham Young University on Saturday afternoon, but a rare fall on the balance beam dropped the Thunderbirds into a third-place finish with a final score of 194.275. BYU and Iowa State tied for the team title with matching 194.925's as Utah State rounded out the quad meet with a 191.900.

The finish was not in part to the performances of seniors Lindsey Schultz and Ari Lamb as the duo swept titles on vault and floor for Schultz and the beam for Lamb.

"That fall on beam made all the difference for us today," head coach Scott Bauman said after the meet. "But these are things that can be fixed and we know that we'll come back strong next week and hit those routines."

Southern Utah began the afternoon on the floor exercise as Lauren Jeffrey and Alyssa Click started the rotation with matching 9.750's. Lamb followed with a 9.775, finishing just outside the top five during the meet. The Thunderbird performances culminated in a 9.875 for Schultz as the senior claimed her first of two titles during the afternoon.

Following the first rotation, Southern Utah had the lead with a 48.875 and was followed by Iowa State (48.575), Utah State (48.500) and BYU (48.200).

Schultz' next title came as the Thunderbirds moved to vault where she scored a 9.750 on an event that was scored very critically throughout the meet. Despite the lower marks, Brooke Cersosimo finished in second place with a 9.725 as Southern Utah finished with a 48.225 and dropped into third place (97.100), trailing Iowa State (97.425) and BYU (97.175).

During the third rotation, SUU rounded out its team score on bars with scores of 9.700 or better. Sophomore Michaela Chernoch led the way, missing the bar title by .025 with her career-best 9.825. Click was close behind with a 9.775 as the T-Birds moved into second place with a 145.900.

BYU was just ahead of the T-Birds with a a 146.125 going into the final rotation with Iowa State also fighting for the top spot following a third rotation total of 145.725.

Southern Utah finished the afternoon on beam, beginning with Caitlin Kennedy who got the team off to a solid start with a 9.725. However, Cersosimo followed and suffered her first fall on beam all year, scoring a 9.100, but the Birds were back on track with a 9.800 by Chernoch in the next routine.

Shannon Coughlin was next with a 9.725, but another rare fall by the Thunderbirds in Alyssa Click's routine resulted in a 9.200 for the sophomore. Lamb finished the rotation for the T-Birds with a career-best 9.925 on beam for the title, marking the third-best score in school history.

Lamb went on to finish third in the all-around with a 38.975, finishing behind all-around champions from Iowa State: Michelle Browning and Michelle Shealy.

The loss snapped a five-meet winning streak against Brigham Young and also snapped an opening season, three-meet winning streak for the Thunderbirds. Southern Utah will look to begin a new streak when the T-Birds host Utah State, facing the Aggies for the third time this season, on Friday, February 4 in the Centrum Arena. The meet will be the team's annual Breast Cancer Awareness Meet with aims at raising money for breast cancer research.

Print Friendly Version