CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Southern Utah gymnastics team took down the No. 17 ranked BYU Cougars Friday night, scoring a 196.000 in their final home meet of the season.
"I loved what I saw out of the girls tonight. It was a fantastic meet, the girls looked awesome, and it was great to get our seniors in the lineups," head coach Scotty Bauman said. "We left some gymnastics out there, but what happened on floor was amazing. To see that team rally, without Hannah Nipp, was fantastic. It was good to see Maddy McBride and Autumn Jorgensen back in on floor."
The Flippin' Birds scored a 49.175 on floor, their highest score of the season on that event, to keep the Cougars at bay and secure the win. The 196.000 overall score is their second-highest of the season, having set their season-high last week against Temple. Morgan Alfaro and Becky Rozsa-Thompson both earned event champion titles, as Alfaro had the best vault of the night and Rozsa-Thompson had the best bar routine.
In her final meet in Cedar City, Karen Gonzalez led the way on floor for SUU, scoring a 9.875, a new season-high. Molly Jozwiakowski and Madison McBride both earned 9.850's and Autumn Jorgensen scored a 9.825 in her first floor routine of the season. Shylen Murakami rounded out the scoring with a 9.775.
Southern Utah's second best team score of the night came on vault where they scored a 49.025. Morgan Alfaro led the way for the second week in a row scoring a 9.850. Rachel Smith and Stephanie Tervort both earned 9.825's, a new career-high for Smith. Jozwiakowski scored a 9.775 and Karley McClain rounded out the scoring with a 9.750.
On bars, Rozsa-Thompson had the highest score for the T-Birds for the third straight week, scoring a 9.825. Murakami and McClain both scored 9.800's and Tervort and Caitlin Kho each earned a 9.750. This was Kho's first bar routine of her collegiate career.
Murakami and McClain also both scored 9.800's on beam, leading the way on the event for the Thunderbirds. Jorgensen scored a 9.775 and both seniors, Gonzalez and Kamryn Bayer, were awarded 9.750's for their routines.
4,543 fans packed the America First Event Center for the final home meet of 2019, the highest attendance number since the University of Utah made the trip to Cedar City to open the 2016 season.
The Flippin' Birds will now be on the road for five straight meets starting with a matchup with the University of Nebraska in Lincoln next Saturday March 2.
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