CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Flippin' Birds competed in the NCAA Regional Championship in Los Angeles. The event was hosted by UCLA in the legendary Pauley Pavilion. A special season for the Thunderbirds would come to an end as the third-place finish in the meet with a score of 196.600 would eliminate Southern Utah from the Regional competition.
The University of Utah ran away with the team race early, leading the field throughout and finishing with a score of 198.125. The Flippin' Birds battled with the University of Washington the entire meet. The Huskies came out on top in the end with 196.775, just .175 ahead of Southern Utah. The surprise of the meet was the downfall of the University of Auburn, which finished in fourth place with 195.900 despite its #12 ranking.
MEET RECAP
Graduate student Karley McClain took second in the All-Around competition with an impressive score of 39.400. The Flippin' Birds earned their best score of the meet from the floor team with 49.275. McClain tied for the top spot on the podium on the floor with a score of 9.925.
Despite a tough start on the bars, the Flippin' Birds found their way back into the meet with some great scores on the beam and the floor. Going into the final rotation the Thunderbirds were in a position to advance to the next round of the Regional Championship. The battle for the last spot came down to the final routine and Kennedi Davis of the University of Washington delivered, giving them the score needed to pull into second place.
BARS (48.950)
The Flippin' Birds started the meet on the bars and earned a team score of 48.950. The top score came from graduate student Shylen Murakami who led with an outstanding 9.900. McClain was next with 9.850 followed by matching scores of 9.750 for graduate students Mayson Bentley and Caitlin Kho. Rounding out the scores for the T-Birds was junior Aubri Schwartze who scored a 9.700.
BEAM (49.225)
Going to the second rotation the Thunderbirds had some ground to cover sitting in fourth place. The Beam team delivered with an impressive 49.225. McClain set the top score with 9.875. Murakami and junior Hailey Vultaggio would tie for the next best spot, each scoring 9.850. The final two spots for the T-Birds would come from Schwartze and graduate student Rachel Smith who both earned 9.825.
FLOOR (49.275)
In the third rotation, the T-Birds moved to the floor and continued to build with their amazing routines. McClain would grab an outstanding score of 9.925. Then it was a trio of Thunderbirds who would all score 9.850 in Schwartze, Vultaggio, and junior Emma Ingrassia. The final counted score from SUU would be Ellie Cacciola who bounced back from a tough beam routine to score 9.800 on the floor. The team score of 49.275 put Southern Utah within striking distance of advancing to the Regional Finals.
VAULT (49.150)
As the final rotation began, the Thunderbirds found themselves just .150 out of the second-place spot. The Flippin' Birds kept the pressure on as the team scored 49.175. Caitlin Kho set a new career best on the vault and led the team with a 9.925. Cacciola and Freshman Kayla Pardue earned the next-best scores for Southern Utah with matching 9.850 scores. After that, it was Graduate student Rachel Smith who notched a 9.775.
FOLLOW US
For all the latest on Southern Utah gymnastics, follow @SUUGym on Twitter, @SUUGymastics on Instagram, and like the Southern Utah Gymnastics Facebook page.
