CEDAR CITY, Utah - After three straight home meets the Flippin' Birds are heading back out on the road this weekend for a matinee matchup with the Michigan Wolverines on Sunday.

Last Time Out

The Thunderbirds didn't have their best all-around outing of the season against the Cougars of Brigham Young University last Friday, but they did have the best floor performance in the history of the program.

SUU scored a 49.550 on the event, topping the previous mark set at the 2004 WAC Championships. Autumn Jorgensen tied the school record on the event for the second straight week with a 9.950, closely followed by a 9.925 from Stacie Webb and Madyson Blake-Howard. Karen Gonzalez and Tyly Bozzuto both scored a 9.875 to round out the scoring for the Thunderbirds.

As a team the Thunderbirds scored a 194.825, which was enough to top BYU. SUU moved to 5-1 on the season with their lone loss coming to MRGC opponent Boise State.

Moving Forward

The Thunderbirds have just one home meet remaining this season, with the other three on the road. After this weekend SUU will return to the Centrum Arena to host North Carolina State, which will also be Senior Night for the eight Thunderbird seniors.

Following that meet the Flippin' Birds will be in the state, but on the road, as they will travel to Logan to take on Utah State and to Provo to face BYU. Following the meet against Michigan the remainder of competition will be against teams SUU has previously faced off against.

The Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference Championships are scheduled for March 18th in Logan, Utah, which will be a showdown between Boise State, BYU, Utah State and SUU.

The Thunderbirds dropped out of the rankings this week, as the rankings switched from average score to RQS (Regional Qualifying Score), which the Thunderbirds currently do not have. To have an RQS a team must have at least three home scores and three road scores. This weekend the Thunderbirds will post their third road score making them eligible.

The Wolverines of Michigan

The No. 9 Michigan women's gymnastics team is coming off a 197.225 performance at home against the Wolfpack of NC State last Friday, and will be looking to keep the momentum going on Sunday. That mark tied their highest of the season, which they set there and against Nebraska at home on January 28th.

Michigan is the top ranked team in the Big Ten Conference with an RQS of 196.500, with Nebraska at second with a 195.985. The Wolverines also have the top team scores on vault, beam and floor in the Big Ten.

Michigan's Paige Zaziski is currently in a tie for the sixth highest RQS in the entire nation on bars with a 9.890. Nicole Artz is currently eighth in the NCAA on floor, with an RQS of 9.905.

Ranking

Preseason: No. 26

Week 1: N/A (Had not competed)

Week 2: N/A (Had not competed)

Week 3: No. 9

Week 4: No. 11

Week 5: No. 20

Week 6: No. 13

Week 7: N/A (No RQS)

MRGC Athletes of the Week

Week 3

Co-Beam Specialist of the Week: Tyly Bozzuto, Autumn Jorgensen, Danielle Ramirez and Stacie Webb

Week 4

Gymnast of the Week: Danielle Ramirez

Co-Vault Specialist of the Week: Danielle Ramirez

Week 5

Co-Vault Specialist of the Week: Madison McBride

Week 6

Co-Gymnast of the Week: Danielle Ramirez

Floor Specialist of the Week: Autumn Jorgensen

Week 7

Floor Specialist of the Week: Autumn Jorgensen

Meet Time

Friday's meet between the Thunderbirds and the Wolverines is set for 11 a.m. Mountain Time on Sunday. The meet will take place in the Crisler Center.

Stay Up To Date  

A link to a live stream, as well as live stats, will be available on mgoblue.com and suutbirds.com prior the start of the meet.

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