CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Flippin' Birds hosted the Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference Championship Saturday in Cedar City. Competing against talented squads from BYU, Boise State, and Utah State the Thunderbirds battled to their first-place finish and the first-ever MRGC Championship in program history. Southern Utah finished with a score of 196.875. BYU was next with 196.575, then it was Boise State University with 196.000, and wrapping up the team scores was Utah State with 195.825.
MOUNTAIN RIM AWARDS
The Thunderbirds earned several MRGC awards tonight to go along with the solid victory. Graduate Student Karley McClain was named the Gymnast of the Year and Floor Specialist of the year. McClain was also named First-Team All-MRGC on both the floor and all-around while earning Second-Team honors on both the bars and beam. Freshman Kayla Pardue earned a First-Team All-MRGC for the vault and graduate student Shylen Murakami picked up First-Team All-MRGC honors for the bars. Sophomore Ellie Cacciola was named First-Team All-MRGC on the beam and junior Aubri Schwartze made the First-Team All-MRGC floor team. Wrapping up the individual awards for the Thunderbirds was junior Hailey Vultaggio who claimed a spot in the Second-Team All-MRGC floor team.
Coach Scott Bauman was named the 2023 Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference Coach of the Year. Coach Bauman has led the Flippin' Birds to a top-20 ranking this season reaching as high as #16 in week seven. Coach Jamie Wysong was also named the 2023 MRGC Assistant Coach of the Year. Wysong has coached the floor team to the top spot in the conference and helped Karley McClain, Aubri Schwartze, and Hailey Vultaggio to three of the top 4 rankings in the conference individually while also helping to coach Kayla Pardue, Caitlin Kho, and Ellie Cacciola to 3 of the top 7 highest rankings in the conference on Vault.
MEET RECAP
McClain took the All-Around competition in the meet tying her career-high in the process with a 39.525. The big score by McClain also ties for the third-best all-around score in program history. The Flippin' Birds scored the top marks in bars, floor, and vault to grab some individual champion awards. Cacciola and Goodman walked away with a tie for first place in the vault and bars respectively while McClain stood alone atop the podium in the floor exercise.
The T-Birds edged out the other teams on the beam scoring a top-five program score of 49.300 as a team. The Thunderbirds vault team also took charge earning the second-best score in program history with 49.300.
BARS (49.225)
The Flippin' Birds started the meet on the bars and jumped into second place with a score of 49.100. The top score came from Goodman who led with 9.875. McClain was next with 9.850 followed by matching scores of 9.800 for Murakami and Schwartze. Rounding out the scores for the T-Birds was sophomore Isabella Neff who scored a 9.775.
BEAM (49.325)
Going to the second rotation the Thunderbirds were in second place and looking to post a huge score on the beam. McClain would help set the T-Birds up to do just that, scoring 9.925. Cacciola then posted a phenomenal 9.900 to increase the team score significantly. The final three scores came in the form of matching 9.825 marks for graduate student Rachel Smith, Murakami, and Vultaggio. The Thunderbirds would capitalize on the big scores to send the meet to the third rotation with a slight lead over BYU.
FLOOR (49.150)
In the third rotation, the T-Birds moved on to the floor and continued to build with their strong routines. McClain would grab her second 9.925 score of the meet while Vultaggio would fall in just behind her at 9.900. Schwartze and Cacciola each posted a score of 9.850 and wrapping up the team score for Southern Utah was junior Emma Ingrassia who notched a 9.650.
VAULT (49.200)
As the final rotation began the goal was in sight for the Thunderbirds who led by .175. They would still need to deliver a show-stopping 49.300 team score in order to win the meet. Cacciola got the team started with an eye-catching 9.900 vault. Caitlin Kho showed up as usual with a 9.875. Both Vultaggio and freshman Kayla Pardue would go on to score 9.850 to give the Thunderbirds a significant lead to work with. The final counted score on the vault came from McClain who wrapped up her final meet in the America First Event Center with a 9.825. While the team awaited the final score the crowd was electric hitting its peak when the Thunderbirds were announced as Conference Champions.
TOP MOMENTS
NEXT UP
The Flippin' Birds will await the decision of the NCAA Selection Committee which will announce Regional pairings on Monday, March 20th at 10:00 a.m. MT. The Thunderbirds will host a Selection Show Watch Party on campus in the Sharwan Smith Student Center and invite all fans to come and see where the T-Birds will compete next.
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