In their second meeting in the past week, the Southern Utah University gymnastics team traveled to Logan to take on Utah State University. After putting up a fight and battling back, the Flippin’ Birds suffered a 195.700-195.550 loss.
SUU now falls to 1-4 on the season. USU sits at 3-1. Both teams competed in the Best of Utah meet on Jan. 12, and they’ll face off again on Feb. 9 and Mar. 2.
Bars – 48.875
Niya Randolph opened the meet for Southern Utah and scored a clean 9.825. Mia Hampton followed with a respectable 9.750. Freshman Ariel Collum made her debut with a 9.700. Alex Routsis submitted a high-flying 9.825 to help increase the momentum. Kendall McGuire finished up the rotation, scoring a 9.775. The Flippin’ birds posted a strong 48.875, just trailing the Aggies at 48.950.
Vault – 48.700
Looking to close the gap, the Thunderbirds came out strong with Elliot Bringhurst’s solid 9.750. Randolph stayed consistent, scoring a 9.825. Freshman Berlin Hall earned a 9.600 on her vault. Mackenzie Kelly followed that up with a poised 9.775. At the midpoint, the Thunderbirds had put up a 97.575 to USU’s 97.875.
Floor – 48.875
For their third rotation, the Flippin’ Birds transitioned to the floor. Hampton continued to shine, putting up an impressive 9.800. Hall and sophomore Sage Paladino both earned a 9.775 to boost the Thunderbirds’ score.
Randolph continued to put up high numbers, scoring a 9.750 on her tumbling routine. Finally, Alyssa Fernandez capped the rotation for the Thunderbirds with a commendable 9.775. The Flippin’ Birds finished the rotation with a total score of 146.450, just behind the Aggies’ 146.800.
Beam – 49.100
Still trailing by a few percentage points, the T-Birds pulled out all the stops on the beam. Randolph opened the event with her best routine of the night, scoring a 9.875. Hampton, Rylee Miller and Maria Ferguson each cashed in great performances, with a 9.850 and two 9.775 scores respectively.
Bringhurst followed up with a strong routine but stumbled, bringing her score down to 9.250. The junior averaged a 9.800 on the beam last year but has averaged a 9.380 this season after two unfortunate falls. Marissa de Groot ended SUU’s night with a career-high 9.825, but SUU fell just short of USU, who won 195.700-195.550.
Top T-Birds
— Randolph put up a 39.275, earning first place in the all-around. Continuing to show why she is one of the top college gymnasts in the country, Randolph scored second on vault and bars while placing first on the beam.
— Routsis placed second overall on the bars, tying Randolph with a 9.825.
— Hampton competed in three events and tied for second on both the beam and floor.
What’s next?
The team will have a break between competitions, travelling next to San José, California on Sunday, Feb. 1 to compete in a quad meet. The meet will include San José State University, the US Air Force Academy and Texas Woman’s University. The event starts at 3 p.m.
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Author: Andrew Streeter
Photographer: SUU Athletics
Editor: Payson Davis
