Cedar City, Utah - The No. 23 Thunderbird gymnastics team picked up a victory against the Utah State Aggies on Friday night, outscoring USU 195.275-194.900.
“I think the team is really coming along,” SUU head coach Scott Bauman said about the meet. “We seem to put together three events every meet, and we're still struggling on one event each time, and when we actually put an entire meet together we are going to be a very good team, very strong team, and very hard team to beat.”
Bauman went on to say about the opposition, “Utah State, I thought they looked fantastic. They brought a very strong team down here, and they're going to be a very tough team to beat up in Logan, especially if we're still counting falls and big errors, so we've got to make sure that we sure up the little things that we're doing wrong in those routines, but other than that I think the meet went great, I loved what I saw out of my athletes.”
The result was SUU's first outright victory of the season, after taking second in a tri-meet in Denver and being outscored by Utah last week.
The Thunderbirds had a huge meet from Stacie Webb, who had or tied for the top score in three of the four events. Despite her great performance, Webb said there's things she knows she wants to improve on.
“It feels pretty nice, but I am a little disappointed in myself, just because it wasn't the perfect performance that I know I can put out,” she said. “And I know that I have a lot of room for improvement, so that's what I'm looking for.”
Webb led the way on vault, which was SUU's first event, with a 9.85 which was the highest score of the night. Virginia Brownsell and Madyson Blake also had solid vaults for the T-Birds, both scoring a 9.775.
Aggie all-arounder McKinzey Martinez scored a 9.800 to lead the way for the Aggies.
On the bars, T-Bird Memory Shettles took the top score for the team with a 9.850, which tied her career high score. Sydney Townsend also had a good score for SUU as the anchor, scoring a 9.800.
The T-Birds did end up having to count a fall on the bars, having to count a 9.350. However, Bauman said they are errors that are very easily fixable and he could live with them.
Martinez was the event champion on the bars with a 9.950, which set a new career high for her.
SUU bounced back on beam, scoring an event high 48.950 as a team. The T-Birds were led again by Webb, along with Natalie Trejo, who tied for event champions with a 9.875.
USU's Emily Briones also hit the 9.875, making her the high score on the event for the Aggies.
The Thunderbirds closed out the meet strong on floor, led by Webb's 9.825. Danielle Ramirez had the second highest score for SUU with a 9.800 on the floor exercise. Her 9.8 set a new personal best for Ramirez.
Aggie Bailey McIntire tied Webb's 9.825, putting them in a tie for event champion.
Ramirez was the lone T-Bird to complete the all-around, scoring a 38.725. After not being able to complete her bar routine, she said it was easy for her to bounce back.
“They're two different events, and that's how I think of it,” she said. “One is done, then the next one is what I need to focus on, so I just forgot what happened on bars and moved on.”
USU's McIntire had the top all-around score, putting together a 39.000.
The Thunderbirds and Aggies will square off again next week, as a week from tonight the T-Birds will be in Logan for their fourth meet of the season.
That meet is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Updates can be followed on Twitter @SUUGameday.
