The Flippin’ Birds are back in Cedar City after a trip to the East Coast where they finished third in the Penn State University Quad Meet on March 5. No. 13 University of Denver took first place followed by the Nittany Lions in second and Cornell University who finished fourth.
Southern Utah University looks to finish the regular season undefeated at home against the College of William & Mary on Friday, March 11, with a special occasion: Senior Night. This SUU roster has a lot of experience with nine gymnasts graduating and being honored for their contributions.
The Flippin’ Birds
SUU has been flying high and scoring high all season, averaging 195.925 and are currently on the outskirts of the top 25 at No. 32. February was a great month for the Flippin’ Birds, finishing second at the Utah State University Tri-Meet and winning against Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference rivals Utah State University and Boise State University.
Last time out, SUU was lights out on the vault with Morgan Alfaro and Caitlin Kho both finishing with scores of 9.875. 9.875 was the highest score on the other sections as well for the Flippin’ Birds with Shylen Murakami and Aubri Schwartze on the bars, Hannah Nipp on the beam and Karley McClain on the floor — resulting in a third place finish for SUU.
The Tribe
The Tribe have not won a meet all season. Their highest score was on Jan. 14 at the Towson University Quad Meet finishing fourth but scoring a collective 191.075. Their highest finish of the season was second against West Chester University on Feb. 12. William & Mary are averaging 190.010 on the season.
Last time out, the Tribe finished fourth in the University of Maryland Quad Meet on March 6, finishing fourth with a final score of 190.025. Sarah Kuper finished third in all-around with a 48.475 — a new career high. 9.750 was a career-high number for multiple gymnasts for William & Mary with Keaghan Schafer on the bars and Abby Carpenter on the beam.
The competition
Both teams look to finish the regular season on a good note with this being the last meet of the regular season for both teams. Afterwards, SUU heads to the MRGC Championship held in Boise, Idaho on March 19 and the Tribe heads to the GEC Championship in Providence, Rhode Island.
Article by: Anthony Colasuono
sports@suunews.net
Photos courtesy of SUU Athletics
