The start of the new year means the beginning of gymnastics season, and the Flippin’ Birds are gearing up for their 2018 campaign to get underway this Thursday against the Broncos of Boise State in a Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference showdown.
2017 Recap
To say the Flippin’ Birds had a successful go of it in 2017 might be underselling it.
For the first time in the history of the program the T-Birds hit two major milestones. As a team on Senior Night against NC State, the Thunderbirds scored a 197.025.
That marked the first time in the history of the program that any SUU team passed the 197.000 barrier. About a week later, Stacie Webb did something else another Thunderbird had never done, as she scored a perfect 10.0 on the road against BYU.
The talking points don’t stop there. The T-Birds made it to NCAA Regionals for the fifth consecutive season, as they competed in Morgantown, West Virginia. The T-Birds averaged the 11th highest attendance in the NCAA and Tyly Bozzuto was nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year.
Academic National Champions
If all of those accolades on the floor of competition weren’t enough, the Flippin’ Birds also brought it in the classroom as the program claimed it’s 13th Academic National Championship.
Every single gymnast, all 18 of them, claimed the title of Scholastic All-American and the Thunderbirds finished the school year with a team GPA of 3.8867, the highest across all other programs in the NCAA.
Fresh Faces
The first time Thunderbird fans watch the 2018 edition of the Flippin’ Birds, they’re going to have to get used to some new faces.
In total, 10 gymnasts on the 2018 Thunderbird roster are freshmen, and an additional seven are just entering their sophomore season for the T-Birds.
With only one junior and three seniors on the roster, the underclassmen have taken over and the future looks very bright for the group of young Flippin’ Birds.
Preseason Rankings
When it came to preseason rankings, the Thunderbirds were selected to do pretty well in their upcoming campaign.
In the NACGC/W Preseason National Poll, the T-Birds were tabbed as the No. 24 team in all of the NCAA.
In the Preseason Coaches Poll for the Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference, the T-Birds were selected second behind only Boise State.
Meet Time
Thursday’s meet against Boise State is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. MT.
Follow the Flippin’ Birds
For all things Southern Utah Gymnastics follow @suugym on Twitter and Instagram and like the Southern Utah Gymnastics page on Facebook.
Tickets
Tickets for the 2018 gymnastics season can be purchased at the America First Event Center Ticket Office or at www.tbirdtickets.com.
