The Southern Utah University gymnastics team opened their 2024 season at the Super 16 Meet in Las Vegas on Saturday, Jan. 6. Competing against the University of Minnesota, Oregon State University and Brigham Young University, the Flippin’ Birds scored 196.025 behind Minnesota’s 196.850 and Oregon State’s 196.525 while topping Brigham Young’s 195.900.
Vault
BYU had the top score in the vault event, putting up a 49.225 behind Sydney Benson and Ava Jorgensen’s 9.875s. Minnesota and Southern Utah came right behind with 49.050 each, followed by Oregon State’s 48.950.
Ellie Cacciola led the way for the Thunderbirds with her 9.850, and Niya Randolph posted a 9.825 in her collegiate debut. Taylor Gull and Kayla Pardue each put up 9.800, while Trista Goodman and Kennedi McClain rounded the event out with 9.775 and 9.750, respectively.
Bars
SUU saw their strongest score on the uneven bars event, but their 49.300 was only good enough for the third-best score. Oregon State came on top with a 49.625 that was helped by Jade Carey’s 9.975 performance, which earned her a 10-point vote from one of the judges. BYU scored 49.425, and Minnesota trailed the pack with 49.275.
The Flippin’ Birds’ top scorer in the event was Aubri Schwartze, who set a new career high of 9.900. Randolph and Isabella Neff tied at 9.875, followed closely by Alex Routsis’ 9.850 and Brinlee Christensen’s 9.800. Goodman put up 9.325 for the lowest score of the event.
Beam
Minnesota was the only team to score over 49 points on the balance beam with their meet-leading 49.350, making it their best event of the afternoon. This was largely due to Brooklyn Rowray’s 9.975, which included a 10-point vote. Southern Utah came next with 48.950, then Oregon State with 48.725 and Brigham Young with 48.600.
Schwartze again led SUU, this time with a 9.850, making her the only Thunderbird to score above 9.800. McClain, Randolph, Cacciola and freshman Alyssa Fernandez all came away with 9.775s, while Aly Coutu finished off with a 9.750.
Floor
OSU posted 49.225 in the floor exercise to top the other three teams. It came ahead of Minnesota’s 49.175, SUU’s 48.725 and BYU’s 48.650.
The 48.725 was a rather low score for Southern Utah, as they averaged 49.236 in the floor event last season. Their top scorer this time out was Randolph, who earned a 9.825. Schwartze and Fernandez came next, scoring 9.775 and 9.725, respectively, while Gull and Cacciola each put up 9.700. Christensen closed out the event for the Thunderbirds with an even 9.000.
Up next
The Flippin’ Birds will now look to the annual Best of Utah Meet, where they will take on the University of Utah, Utah State University and BYU. The meet will be held in the Maverik Center in West Valley City on Monday, Jan. 15, at 4 p.m.
Author: Anden Garfield
Photographer: Anden Garfield
sports@suunews.net
