BOISE, Idaho - The Southern Utah gymnastics team competed in their first road meet of 2019 Friday night against the No. 10 Boise State Broncos for a rematch of last week's meet. Both teams showed improvement from their first matchup as the Broncos came away with a 196.625-195.525 victory.
The 195.525 for the Flippin' Birds was a new season-high as they continue to build on their scores with each meet.
"I'm seeing a lot of our younger girls going out there and they're getting better and better every single meet. It was great to see Stephanie go out there and do what she did. Jiang Braley had a fantastic meet and she's starting to get her confidence and her swagger," head coach Scotty Bauman said. "That whole group is getting such good experience while others are still working their way back. I am really proud of some of the things I saw out there tonight and we know we have so much room still for improvement."
Stephanie Tervort and Morgan Alfaro had the high scores on vault for the T-Birds as Tervort earned a 9.850 in just her second competition and Alfaro put up a 9.825 for her third consecutive 9.800 or higher. Caitlin Kho scored a new career-high with a 9.800 and Karley McClain and Molly Jozwiakowski rounded out the scoring with 9.775's. Their vault team score of 49.025 was a new season-high for SUU.
The Flippin' Birds also scored a new team season-high of 49.150 on floor where no one scored less than a 9.800. McClain and Jozwiakowski both earned 9.850's to lead the way, a new season-high for Jozwiakowski and the second consecutive 9.850 for McClain on the event. Kho and Jiang Braley both set new career-highs with 9.825's and Karen Gonzalez and Madison McBride both earned 9.800's.
"Our floor team looked unbelievable tonight. Molly Jozwiakowski did an absolutely gorgeous floor routine. The whole team looked fantastic," Bauman said.
On bars, Shylen Murakami had the high score for the Flippin' Birds for the second week in a row as she swung her way to a 9.825. Becky Rozsa-Thompson earned a 9.800 and Tervort was a awarded a 9.750 for her first collegiate bar routine. Hannah Nipp and McClain rounded out the scoring with a 9.750 and a 9.700 respectively.
The Thunderbirds ran into some struggles over on beam, but still saw some great individual performances. Nipp led the way with a 9.875 and Murakami nailed a 9.850 in her first beam routine since week one. Alyssa LaDieu also put together her highest-scoring routine of the season with a 9.775.
The Flippin' Birds will return home next week for another MRGC matchup, this time hosting in-state rival Utah State on Friday February 1.
Tickets
Tickets for the Flippin' Birds' next home meet on February 1 against Utah State are available at tbirdtickets.com or the America First Event Center Ticket Office. Fans can also purchase a Women's Sports Pass for access to all 2019 regular season home meets.
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