CEDAR CITY, Utah -- After last week's record breaking performance, the No. 20 Thunderbirds will head to Logan, Utah for another Mountain Rim Conference match-up against the Utah State Aggies this Friday, February 14 at 7:00 p.m.
The score moved them up in the national rankings from No. 23 to No. 20, their highest ranking of the season. They sit just four spots behind BYU, the highest ranked team in the MRGC at No. 16.
Last Time Out
The Southern Utah gymnastics team earned a new team score record with their 197.225 performance last Friday, February 7. Their program-high put them well over the visiting Central Michigan Chippewas, who scored a 194.850, giving SUU their fourth victory of the season.
Aside from breaking the school record, the Thunderbirds also claimed all event champion titles, (with the exception of all-around) and set seven new individual career records, tied the team vault score record and tied for third on both the floor team score record and the bars team score record.
Molly Jozwiakowski's 9.925 career-high score on floor crowned her co-event champion with Karley McClain who also scored a 9.925. Caitlin Kho also set a career-high score on floor, earning a 9.900.
Madison McBride set her new career record of a 9.900 on vault, which named her the vault event champion.
Hannah Nipp set two career-high scores Friday evening; the first on bars with her 9.875 and the second on beam where she stuck a 9.950. Nipp's beam performance awarded her the event champion crown. Ruby Hernandez also set a career high on beam with her 9.750.
Upon completion of the meet McClain set a new individual career-high in the all-around with her 39.475
After posting a 49.325 on vault, SUU set a new event score record and is now 13th in the nation on vault. Their 49.275 beam score moved them into 19th place nationally. Their 49.500 floor score was not only the best of the season but also bumped the T-Birds up seven slots, going from 31st to 24th in the NCAA floor rankings. They also climbed the ladder in beam standings after being awarded a 49.125 which puts them at No. 28 in the nation.
SUU Sweeps MRGC Specialist of the Week Honors
The Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference released the winners of the MRGC Specialist of the Week awards for week five and at least one Thunderbird took home each of the five awards.
Karley McClain was named Co-MRGC Gymnast of the Week for her performance in the all-around, Madison McBride was named Vault Specialist of the Week, Shylen Murakami was named Bars Specialist of the Week, Hannah Nipp was named Beam Specialist of the Week, and Molly Jozwiakowski and McClain were named Co-Floor Specialists of the Week.
McClain set a new career-high in the all-around with a 39.475, beating her previous high of 39.450 set last season at Utah State. She scored a 9.850 on vault, 9.825 on bars, 9.875 on beam, and a 9.925 on floor to give her the combined score of 39.475. She is now ranked third in the MRGC in the all-around with an average score of 39.150. This is the first time a gymnast from SUU has been named Gymnast of the Week since Danielle Ramirez won the award twice in 2017.
Madison McBride set a new career-high on vault with a 9.900 as she anchored a vault lineup that tied the program record on the event with a team score of 49.325. The senior is now ranked sixth in the MRGC on the event with an average of 9.808. This second time in her career that she has been named Vault Specialist of the Week.
Murakami tied her career-high on bars with a 9.950, helping the team reach its third highest score ever on the event with a 49.275. The sophomore is now ranked third in the conference on the event with an average of 9.883. This is the second time this season that the sophomore has been named Bars Specialist of the Week and the third time in her career.
Nipp set a new career-high on beam with a 9.950, tying her for second all-time on the event. She is now ranked third in the conference on beam with an average score of 9.808. This is the third weekly award of the season for the junior, as she was named Floor Specialist of the Week in week two and four.
Jozwiakowski and McClain both scored a 9.950 on floor, pushing the team to their third-highest score all-time on the event with a 49.500. It set a new career-high for Jozwiakowski and tied a career-high for McClain. McClain is the top floor worker in the MRGC with an average of 9.879. This is the second floor award for McClain and the first for Jozwiakowski.
Opponent Preview: Utah State Aggies
The Aggies picked up their second meet win of the season as they defeated Boise State 195.675-193.850 at their home-opener last Friday evening.
Following the win, the Aggies moved up one spot in the national rankings, going from No. 32 to No. 31. In the individual events USU sits in 19th on beam, 33rd on both bars and floor and 37th on vault.
Leighton Varnadore and Sofi Sullivan are USU's all-around competitors, averaging 38.935 and 38.894, respectively.
SUU has already seen Utah State twice this season, first at the Rio Tinto Best of Utah meet where the T-Birds defeated the Aggies 194.650-194.150, then in the America First Event Center where SUU downed the Aggies again 195.875-195.175.
Meet Info
Friday's meet is set to begin at 7:00 p.m. MT in Logan, Utah. The meet will be streamed live on PlutoTV channel 455 and live stats will be available at suutbirds.com.
Tickets
Tickets for the Flippin' Birds' home meet on Friday, February 21 against Iowa 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 2020 regular season home meets.
Follow Us
Stay up to date during the 2020 Southern Utah Gymnastics season by following @SUUGym on Twitter and Instagram and liking the Southern Utah Gymnastics page on Facebook.
