The 15th nationally ranked Southern Utah University Flippin’ Birds lost a close meet competing against 12th ranked Brigham Young University Friday night with a final score of 196.825 to 196.175.
It was BYU’s first meet in Provo in over a year, and they competed like they missed their gym.
BYU won every event except all-around, where Karley McClain took the top spot, earning a score of 39.375.
Morgan Alfaro tied BYU’s Abbey Miner-Alder with a top score of 9.850 on vault, keeping her in the top of the rankings in the event. McClain took second with a 9.825.
BYU’s Helody Cyrenne took the top score of the uneven parallel bars with a score of 9.900, and Flippin’ Bird Shylen Murakami tied for second with a 9.875.
Murakami also stood out on the balance beam, tying two gymnasts from BYU with a score of 9.900. McClain, Emma Wissman, Aubri Schwartze, Hannah Nipp, and Ruby Hernandez followed with impressive scores.
Miner-Alder and McClain took the top spots of the floor exercise with a score of 9.900.
The rotations started with BYU on the vault where they earned a team score of 49.000, and SUU followed on the uneven parallel bars with a team score of 48.950.
The second rotation had the Flippin’ Birds start on the vault coming away with a score of 48.875. BYU had a score on the uneven parallel bars of 49.350.
BYU started the third rotation on the balance beam where they came away with an impressive score of 49.350. Southern Utah started the third rotation on the floor, coming away with a score of 49.100
The fourth and final rotation had SUU start on the balance beam, coming away with a score of 49.250 and BYU finished the match with a floor exercise score of 49.125.
SUU will look to avenge this loss with a rematch on Feb. 12 in Cedar City.
Story by: Zach Stover for suunews.net
