Utah State Gymnasts On Short End Of Meet With Southern Utah

LOGAN, Utah – It just wasn’t the Aggies night on Friday in Cedar City as Utah State couldn’t overcome a series of falls on their way to a loss against Southern Utah.

Utah State (1-3, 1-2 Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference) faced the No. 21 Southern Utah Thunderbirds at the America First Event Center on Friday, January 20.

Final scores from Southern Utah. #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/OdR2NAOQyY

— USU Gymnastics (@USUGymnastics) January 21, 2023

Five falls, three on bars and two on beam, proved to be too much for USU to overcome in a 196.600-193.425 loss.

“Coming into the meet, we felt very confident, especially after our first performance last week at the Best of Utah meet,” Aggie head coach Kristin White said. “We were really excited to get out here and show all the details we’ve been working on in the gym. Unfortunately, from the minute we started warming up, we just couldn’t put it all together and recover.”

“Those mistakes on bars, those things are going to happen, but we’ve got to learn, fight and finish the meet, and not let one event affect the rest of the competition.” 

Brianna Brooks’ 9.775 on vault and 9.875 on bars led USU in both events. Sofi Sullivan, the co-Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference (MRGC) Beam Specialist of the Week for her performance at the Rio Tinto Best of Utah meet, finished with a 9.825 in the event. Ariel Toomey’s 9.825 on floor led USU.

“Our biggest takeaway from the meet is we need to stay focused and keep building,” Dani Kirstine said. “I think a lot of us came off of that high from the Best of Utah Meet and just thought we could ride it out for the week. But, we still have work to put in, and by the end of season we’ll be a really good team.” 

Spectrum Magic On Tap

The Aggies will introduce their new ‘Spectrum Magic’ uniforms next weekend when they host the BYU Cougars at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum on Friday, January 27. This meet is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

Just wait 'till Spectrum Magic night in a few weeks. 👌 #AggiesAllTheWay https://t.co/BgaRwc3NSk

— Utah State University (@USUAggies) January 19, 2023

“It’s Spectrum Magic night and I can’t wait to feel that magic,” White said of her team’s home opener. “It’s going to be our staff’s first time in that building with our fans, and just to feel the electricity is going to be amazing. We all know that crowds can help change the outcome of any competition, so I urge all Aggie fans to come out with your family, have a great time, enjoy what our student-athletes are capable of doing in this sport and let’s show them the support they deserve and have a magical night.” 

Utah State will have four home meets this season. Besides the Cougars, USU gymnastics fans will get to see Boise State on February 10, Southern Utah on February 17. Alaska Anchorage and Nebraska will come in for a three team meet on March 3.

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