CEDAR CITY, Utah - Feb. 1 - Southern Utah University gymnastics came
from behind in the final rotation to remain unbeaten at home and
undefeated on the season with a first-place team score of 194.650. The
Thunderbirds finished ahead of conference rivals Boise State (194.425,
second), Cal-State Fullerton (193.575) and in-state rival BYU (193.350,
fourth).
"This meet was awesome tonight!" co-beam champion Katie Hicks said of the meet. "The crowd was great and supportive and it made the meet a blast. I was really proud of the entire team tonight."
Despite the crowd of more than 3,500, Southern Utah's night got off to a shaky start as the team score a meet-low 48.375 on the vault. Freshmen Shannon Coughlin and Jenna Vogt began with scores of 9.375 and 9.525, respectively. However, the scores grew from there with Bailey Baker (9.775) and Katie Hicks (9.600) preceding SUU's best score on the event in Elise Wheeler's 9.800. The score was good enough for sixth overall in the meet. Kellie Dangerfield finished the rotation for the Thunderbirds with a 9.675.
Boise State's Hannah Redmon won the event with a 9.875 followed by a two-way tie for second between BYU's Dayna Smart-Allen and Fullerton's Maddie Steinauer. Boise State also recorded the best team score on the event during the night with a 48.900.
Southern Utah jumped right back into contention in the second rotation when the Thunderbirds' nationally ranked (No. 5) bars team scored a 48.875. SUU's scores began with three 9.725's (Tehani Douglas, Ari Lamb and Erin Morgan) and topped off with Wheeler's 9.775, Vogt's 9.800 and Dangerfield's 9.850. Dangerfield's finished tied for second overall in the event with Boise State's Lindsay Ward.
Boise State's Taylor Jacob claimed the individual title with a 9.875.
The Thunderbirds remained strong in the third rotation, but showed some signs of imperfection on the beam as Bailey Baker counted a fall on the apparatus (9.125). However, Wheeler (9.700), Vogt (9.725), Lamb (9.800), Dangerfield (9.800) and Hicks (9.825) each hit their routines to give the Thunderbirds a 48.850 team score. Hicks earned the individual title in the event in a three-way tie with BYU's Dayna Smart-Allen and Boise State's Lindsay Ward.
Southern Utah trailed CS-Fullerton by the slimmest of margins (.025) going into the final rotation with the Thunderbirds on floor and the Titans on beam. The final rotation proved to be the difference maker in the meet with Fullerton counting two falls on beam as SUU wrapped up the meet with a solid team score of 48.550 on the floor.
Wheeler, once again, led the Thunderbirds on floor with a team-high 9.800, tying for second-place overall in the event. She was followed by Douglas (9.725), Dangerfield (9.700), Coughlin (9.675) and Hicks with a 9.650. Vogt's score of 9.475 was not counted towards the team score and included a neutral-point deduction after stepping out of bounds on a tumbling pass.
Boise State's Hannah Redmon captured the individual title on the event with a 9.850. Redmon also wrapped up the all-around title with a 39.125 followed by Wheeler (39.075) and a career-high night for Dangerfield with a 39.025.
"We looked good tonight, but the great thing is we can only get better from here," head coach Scott Bauman said after the meet. "We still need to correct dumb little things and if we want to move up to the next level we need to fix all of that stuff."
Southern Utah will get the opportunity to continue to hone its skills when the Thunderbirds host in-state and WAC opponent Utah State on Monday night. The meet is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. with live stats and live streaming available.
