The Southern Utah University gymnastics team was defeated by the University of Iowa on Friday, Jan. 27, by a score of 195.800-195.425.
Vault
SUU’s Kayla Pardue led the way, scoring 9.850. Another boost for the Thunderbirds came from star freshman Niya Randolph, who posted a 9.825.
Sophomore Karina Muñoz kept the Hawkeyes close with 9.825. Her stellar performance helped, but Southern Utah took the event 49.025-48.800.
Bars
Iowa narrowly outscored the Thunderbirds 48.975-48.950. For SUU, both Randolph and junior Isabella Neff posted 9.850.
The Hawkeyes had a great performance on the bars that was led by Eva Volpe, who posted a score of 9.850. Immediately behind her was Marissa Rojas at 9.825 and Ilka Juk at 9.800.
Beam
Iowa’s Juk dominated the beam, scoring a meet-high 9.900 to help the Hawkeyes outscore the Thunderbirds in the event 48.750-48.325.
Ellie Cacciola and sophomore Kennedi McClain led the way for SUU, both scoring 8.250.
Floor
The Hawkeyes pulled away to win the meet during the floor routines. They scored a 49.275 to top the Thunderbirds’ 49.125.
Iowa was led by sophomore Bailey Libby, who scored a 9.900. Her outstanding score was followed by a 9.875 from freshman Alyse Karenbauer.
Southern Utah was once again led by Randolph. She posted a team-high 9.875, followed by freshman Brinlee Christensen with a score of 9.825.
All-around
Southern Utah’s Randolph added another accomplishment to her young career, scoring a new career-high of 39.325 to take first in the all-around. Second was Volpe with a score of 39.075 for the Hawkeyes.
What’s next?
The Flippin’ Birds will head to Logan for a matchup against Utah State University on Friday, Feb. 2, at 7 p.m. This is Southern Utah’s third matchup against the Aggies this season. The Flippin’ Bird are 1-1 against USU, having defeated them in the Rio Tinto Best of Utah meet and losing to them at the SUU Tri-Meet.
Author: Brig Pyfer
Photographer: Anden Garfield
Editor: Anden Garfield
sports@suunews.net
