After being on the road for three of their first four meets, the Southern Utah gymnastics team will return home this week to host the No. 21 BYU Cougars on Friday February 9 and the Utah State Aggies on Monday February 12.
Last Time Out
The Flippin’ Birds picked up their first win of the season last week in Mount Pleasant, Michigan as they edged out the Central Michigan Chippewas 195.825-195.675. Their team score of 195.825 is the highest score of the season so far for the Thunderbirds.
Five individual career-highs were set in the meet including a new all-around high for Autumn Jorgensen as she scored a combined score of 39.250. Morgan Alfaro set a new best on vault with a 9.825 and Madison McBride had the best floor routine of her career earning a 9.875. Mary Packham and Hannah Nipp both set career marks on beam with Packham scoring a 9.825 and Nipp scoring a 9.850.
Head coach Scotty Bauman was impressed with the performance of the team and felt that the win would do a lot for their confidence moving forward.
“It’s the same thing I always tell them with their academics. Once you get a 4.0 or a 3.9, anything below that just seems to be disappointing,” Bauman said. “If they just continue to do what they did tonight and not try to get to crazy with it, they will be able to improve at least another point or so.”
Beam Specialist of the Week
Jorgensen was named Co-MRGC Beam Specialist of the Week following her performance in the Flippin’ Birds’ win over No. 20 Central Michigan Friday night.
Jorgensen scored a 9.875 to lead the way for the Thunderbirds in Mount Pleasant on the event. Her 9.875 tied for the highest score in the conference on beam in week four as Boise State’s Shani Remme, Alex Esmerian, and Sarah Means all earned the same score in their win over Utah State.
Scouting Report: No. 21 BYU Cougars (4-3, 1-0 MRGC)
Since defeating the Thunderbirds back on January 19, the Cougars have gone on to defeat Air Force in a dual meet at home and take third in a quad meet with Denver, Ball State, and Bowling Green. They posted their highest score of the season (196.450) in the win over the Falcons on January 26.
The Cougars have been the best floor team in the MRGC this season and are currently ranked 10th in the nation on the event. They average a team score of 49.160 and posted a high score of 49.275 against Air Force. Mackenzie Douglas was named MRGC Floor Specialist of the Week for three straight weeks to kick off the season.
Scouting Report: Utah State Aggies (2-3, 0-1 MRGC)
The Aggies come into the weekend with a record of 2-3, having won a tri-meet with San Jose State and Sacramento State on January 19, but having lost all three dual meets they have competed in. They posted their highest score of the season (195.450) in that tri-meet win over the Spartans and the Hornets.
Utah State’s Autumn DeHarde was named MRGC Floor Specialist of the Week last week after scoring a 9.925 against Boise State.
Meet Info
Friday’s meet against the Cougars in the America First Event Center is set to start at 7:00 p.m. The first 500 fans through the doors of the AFEC will receive a free rally towel.
Monday’s meet against the Aggies is also set to start at 7:00 p.m. in the AFEC. The meet will be Southern Utah’s “Pink Meet” in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness. Fans in attendance are encouraged to wear pink and several breast cancer survivors will be recognized at the meet.
Both meets will be live streamed on PlutoTV on Southern Utah’s channel (Channel 236). PlutoTV is a free streaming service that can be accessed through your internet browser or through the PlutoTV app in the App Store or Google Play. Links to the stream and live stats from the meet will be available at suutbirds.com.
Follow Us
Stay up to date during the 2018 Southern Utah Gymnastics season by following @SUUGym on Twitter and Instagram and liking the Southern Utah Gymnastics page on Facebook.
Tickets
Tickets for the Flippin’ Birds’ next meets against BYU and Utah State are available at tbirdtickets.com or the America First Event Center Ticket Office. Fans can also purchase a Women’s Sports Pass for access to all 2018 regular season home meets.
Southern Utah University will be hosting the MRGC Championship Meet on March 24. Tickets are available to purchase at tbirdtickets.com or the America First Event Center Ticket Office.
SUU Athletics Strategic Communications
