BOISE, Idaho - The Thunderbird gymnastics team hit their second highest score of the season on Friday night with a 196.275, as they competed in a tri-meet against the No. 12 Boise State Broncos and San Jose State Spartans in the Taco Bell Arena.

The Broncos won the meet with a 197.325, and the Spartans put up a 195.350.

The Thunderbirds started the night on the bars, where they were led by Memory Shettles who scored a 9.900, who was closely followed by Kirsten Yee and Danielle Ramirez, who both scored 9.875s.

For Shettles, the score was a career high.

“We've been putting it together slowly but surely on bars,” SUU head coach Scott Bauman said. “It was nice to see them go out there with that calmness.”

Shettles said she was excited to show what she can do on the event, and the team has been doing a great job building on each other.

“We've been doing a lot of team building stuff on bars so I think the team is learning to hit one after another and build on each score on bars especially,” she said.

Bauman went on to say that the team pulled Karen Gonzalez from the event last minute, but he was impressed with Tyly Bozzuto's ability to step into the lineup.  

As a team, the Thunderbirds scored a 49.300 on the bars.

As the Thunderbirds moved to beam they were led by Natalie Trejo and Ramirez, who both scored a 9.825. Bozzuto and Yee both had a 9.800 for the T-Birds, and SUU scored a 48.950 as a team on the beam.

The T-Birds had their best event as a team when they rotated to floor, where the squad hit a 49.375 on the event.

Trejo led the way on floor with a 9.900, which was followed by Stacie Webb, Virginia Brownsell and Ramirez, who all were given 9.875s for their routines.  

Trejo said she was excited with how the team performed and expects it to carry over into next weekend.

“I think tonight was a really good practice for next week,” she said. “We're going to be in the same arena with the same people and I think it's going to set us up for success.”

On vault, the Thunderbirds were led by Ramirez with a 9.875, and as a team they scored a 48.650.

Bauman said the vault team needs to learn how to compete under the pressure that big meets produce and they will need to focus on that moving forward in the season.

Ramirez finished the night with the top all-around score, as she scored a 39.450. Sandra Collantes from BSU and Maddie Herr from SJSU both scored a 39.350 to tie for second in the all-around.

The Thunderbirds will be back in the Taco Bell Arena next weekend, as the Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference Championships will be held in Boise, Idaho next Saturday.