AMES, Iowa - The Southern Utah gymnastics team was in Ames, Iowa Friday night for a meet with the No. 23 Iowa State Cyclones. The Flippin' Birds set a new season-high on bars, but ultimately fell to the Cyclones 195.250-195.375.
"It's not really about wins and losses in our sport, but it should always be about that to some degree. We left some gymnastics out on the floor no question about it," head coach Scotty Bauman said. "We need to fix all of the little things that we keep doing and this team will be unbelievable. I'm just waiting for them to break through and have that crazy good meet and I'm telling you right now it's coming. You can see it. They are starting to come together and they know they are so much better than they are right now."
Becky Rozsa-Thompson led the way for the Thunderbirds on bars, matching a season-high with a 9.875. Shylen Murakami also had a good night on the event earning a 9.825. Hannah Nipp was given a 9.800 and Stephanie Tervort got a 9.775. Autumn Jorgensen rounded out the scoring with a 9.750.
"In practice every day, Becky practices bars with a really high level of expectation. She will not walk away from bars until she has done a routine that is utterly flawless," Bauman said. "She puts so much effort beyond our normal bar assignments and it is finally starting to pay off for her."
The Flippin' Birds' second best event of the night came over on the floor exercise where they scored a team score of 48.975. Karley McClain and Nipp led the way, both earning 9.850's, a new season-high for Nipp. Karen Gonzalez was a awarded a 9.800 and Molly Jozwiakowski got a 9.775. Caitlin Kho rounded out the scoring with a 9.700.
"It broke my heart to pull Hannah on floor after the one home meet and I wanted to give Maddy a little bit of a rest and put Hannah in there tonight and I think it was a great call," Bauman said. "Hannah went in there and did a absolutely flawless floor routine. It's a shame our home crowd hasn't seen our floor team perform like we have on the road."
Over on vault, Tervort had the high score for the fourth-straight week with a 9.775. Kho earned a 9.750 and both McClain and Rachel Smith earned 9.725's. Jozwiakowski and Morgan Alfaro both earned 9.700's to close out the scoring.
On beam, two Thunderbirds scored 9.800's as Murakami and Nipp both earned the score for their routines. Jorgensen got a 9.700 for her first beam routine of the season and Gonzalez got a 9.675.
McClain scored a 38.900 in the all-around with a 9.725 on vault and bars, a 9.600 on beam, and a 9.850 on floor.
The 195.250 is the third-highest score of the season for the T-Birds and their second-highest road score.
The Flippin' Birds will return home next week to host Temple University on February 15.
Tickets
Tickets for the Flippin' Birds' next home meet on February 15 against Temple University 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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