Utah State University Athletics

Amy Smith is in her fifth season at the helm of the Utah State gymnastics program. She was introduced as just the fourth head coach in the history of the program on July 17, 2017.

Despite battling through a year of uncertainty with the COVID-19 pandemic, Utah State still enjoyed one of its finest seasons in program history in 2021 as the Aggies competed in their 26th NCAA Regional Championship, including their first since 2017.

When the dust finally settled, Utah State ended the year ranked No. 25 in the nation, their best finish since finishing 15th in 1999. The Aggies also tied for 25th in 1998.

Utah State scored 49 or better on vault in six-straight meets, which set a school record. The Aggies averaged a school-record 49.005 on the event, marking the first time in school history they have ever averaged 49 or better. USU notched three of its top vault scores in school history with a 49.225 (tied for third) at the Denver tri meet, and a pair of 49.175s (tied for fifth) at both BYU and Utah.

At the Salt Lake City NCAA Regional Second Round, held at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah, the Aggies recorded their top vault score at a regional meet with a 49.075, bettering the 48.950 set at the NCAA Seattle Regional in 2017.

Mikaela Meyer, who was named the Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference co-Vault Specialist of the Year and earned first-team accolades on the event, averaged 9.838 on vault, which ranks second all-time in school history.

Fellow seniors Leighton Varnadore, who garnered second-team all-MRGC honors on vault, and Autumn DeHarde, averaged 9.809 (tied for fifth all-time) and 9.800 (ninth all-time), respectively, on the event. Sophomore Rebecca Wells averaged 9.798, which ranks 10th all-time.

Grace Rojas led Utah State on bars in 2021 as she averaged 9.809 on the event, which ranks third all-time in school history. As a team, the Aggies averaged 48.877, good enough for fourth-best in school history. Utah State scored a 49.025 on bars at the NCAA Regional Championships, which is the second-best score the team has ever produced at a regional meet.

The Aggies set a school record by scoring 49 or better on beam in nine-straight meets. They also averaged 49.032 on the event, which ranks second all-time in school history. Utah State recorded three of its top beam scores in school history in 2021 with a 49.400 (third) at the Denver tri meet, a 49.275 (tied for fifth) against No. 19 Southern Utah and a 49.225 (tied for eighth) at No. 17 Southern Utah.

DeHarde averaged 9.883 on beam, which ranks second all-time in school history. The native of Sussex, Wisconsin, holds the school record with a beam average of 9.889 set in 2020, and she also averaged 9.827 in 2018 and 2019, which is tied for fourth all-time. She was named the MRGC Beam Specialist of the Year and earned first-team honors on the event.

Just like she did on beam, DeHarde led the Aggies on floor in 2021 with an average of 9.864, which ranks fifth all-time in school history. Utah State began the NCAA Regional Championships on floor with a 49.125, which set a school record for a regional meet. Leading the way on the event was Wells, who tied for third overall with a career-high 9.900, which ranks third all-time for a regional meet. DeHarde tied for 13th on floor with a 9.875, which is tied for fourth for a regional.

As a team, the Aggies averaged 49.036 on floor, which ranks fourth all-time in school history.

Varnadore garnered first-team all-MRGC honors in the all-around during the season, while Wells made her debut in the all-around at the NCAA Regional Championships, where she recorded a 39.200, which is the best score in school history for a regional meet.

Utah State recorded three of its best all-time team scores in school history in 2021 with a 196.775 (third) at the Denver tri meet, a 196.600 (tied for fifth) at BYU and a 196.500 (seventh) at Utah. Inside the friendly confines of the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, the Aggies had a 196.250 in the MRGC Championships and a 196.225 against Southern Utah, which rank seventh and eighth all-time at home.

Utah State notched four of its best away scores in school history with a 196.775 (third) at the Denver tri meet, a 196.600 (fourth) at BYU, a 196.500 (fifth) at Utah and a 196.250 (seventh) at Boise State.

The Aggies also excelled in the classroom as 16 student-athletes received Scholastic All-America Award accolades from the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA). Furthermore, 16 Aggies earned academic all-MRGC honors.

In 2020, Smith was named the Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference Coach of the Year by her peers after leading the Aggies to a 7-6-1 overall record, marking the first time since 1999 that the Aggies ended the season with a winning record.

Smith coached the MRGC Gymnast of the Year in DeHarde and MRGC Freshman of the Year in Sofi Sullivan. DeHarde also earned MRGC Co-Beam and Co-Floor Specialist of the Year accolades, and was named to the first team on both events. Sullivan shared the MRGC Co-Beam Specialist of the Year award with DeHarde, and also earned first-team honors on the event, as well as a first-team citation in the all-around.

Under Smith’s tutelage, Varnadore earned second-team honors on vault and in the all-around.

Before the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Aggies were ranked 29th in the nation with a National Qualifying Score (NQS) of 195.915 – the highest in school history – and waere poised to advance to the NCAA Regional Championships for the first time since 2017.

Utah State defeated every MRGC rival in 2020, snapping a 22-meet losing streak to Boise State (dating back to 2012), a nine-meet losing streak to BYU (dating back to 2017) and a five-meet losing streak to Southern Utah (dating back to 2018) this season.

The Aggies led the MRGC and ranked 19th nationally on beam with a 49.105 NQS. USU recorded the best beam score in school history with a 49.575 at the Boise State quad meet.

Utah State averaged 49.039 on beam, which set the single-season school record. The Aggies averaged 48.875 on vault (fourth all-time in single-season school history), 48.756 on bars (tied for seventh) and 48.992 on floor (sixth).

DeHarde averaged 9.889 on beam, which ranks first all-time in single-season school history. She tied for first in the MRGC and tied for 27th in the nation with a 9.895 NQS on beam. DeHarde had a career-high 9.950 on beam, which is tied for second all-time in school history, at the Boise State quad meet.

Furthermore, DeHarde tied for first in the MRGC and tied for 43rd nationally with a 9.895 NQS on floor. She averaged 9.883 on the event, which ranks second all-time in single-season school history. The native of Sussex, Wisconsin, recorded a career-high 9.950 on floor against BYU, which is tied for third all-time in school history.

Sullivan tied for first in the MRGC and tied for 27th in the nation with her 9.895 NQS on beam. She captured her first-career beam title with a school-record 9.975 at Air Force, which also ranks second all-time in MRGC history. The native of Manhattan Beach, California, also had a 9.950 on beam, which is tied for second all-time in school history, at the Boise State quad meet. Sullivan averaged 9.883 on beam, which ranks second all-time in single-season school history.

In 2019, Smith coached Madison Ward-Sessions to Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) second-team regular-season All-American honors on floor. Ward-Sessions became the first gymnast in Utah State history to ever garner All-American accolades during the regular season. Furthermore, she was the first Aggie to be named an All-American since Jodi Mabb in 1981.

Ward-Sessions capped her stellar Utah State career by competing at the NCAA Regional Championships, where she placed third on floor with a 9.925 and 13th in the all-around with a 38.425. Her 9.925 on floor ranks first all-time in school history for a regional meet and her third-place finish is the best-ever by an Aggie on the event at the regional championships.

During the 2019 campaign, Ward-Sessions averaged 9.906 on floor, which ranks first all-time in single-season school history. She is the first and only Utah State gymnast to ever average 9.900 or better.

Three Aggies qualified for the 2019 NCAA Regional Championships in Ward-Sessions (all-around, floor), MaKayla Bullitt (bars) and DeHarde (beam, floor). On top of that, Ward-Sessions earned first-team all-MRGC honors on floor and second-team all-league accolades on vault and in the all-around. DeHarde garnered second-team all-MRGC honors on floor and Varnadore earned second-team all-league honors in the all-around.

Eight Aggies received Scholastic All-America Award accolades from the WCGA following the 2018-19 campaign, including Leighton Varnadore, Taylor Dittmar, Caitlin Gray, Meyer, Maya Perez-Lugones, Logan Varnadore and Glory Yoakum. Those eight Aggies were also part of 13 gymnasts who received MRGC academic all-league honors.

In her first season at the helm, Smith guided the Aggies to a 9-11 overall record, including 3-2 at home and 2-4 in the MRGC. Utah State placed third at the MRGC Championships with a team score of 195.825.

Under Smith’s tutelage, five Aggies competed at the NCAA Regional Championships in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Those five – Ward-Sessions, Emily Briones, Brittany Jeppesen, DeHarde and Meyer – went a perfect 7-for-7 on their routines.

The Aggies also got it done in the classroom under Smith as five gymnasts – Briones, Maddie McIntyre, Kiera Miller, Dittmar and Varnadore – received Scholastic All-America Awards from the WCGA for carrying a 3.5 or higher GPA during the school year. Those five Aggies were also part of 13 gymnasts who received MRGC academic all-league honors.

Before making her way to Logan, Smith spent the previous five seasons at North Carolina. She was promoted to associate head coach in 2014.

During her time at North Carolina, Smith played an instrumental role in developing some of the Tar Heels’ top all-arounders in recent memory. Elizabeth Durkac was named the 2013 East Atlantic Gymnastics League co-Gymnast of the Year and Haley Watts was tabbed the 2015 EAGL Senior of the Year.

Smith capped her tenure at UNC by being tabbed the 2017 EAGL Assistant Coach of the Year, while Morgan Lane and Khazia Hislop were tabbed the conference’s Gymnast of the Year and Rookie of the Year, respectively.

Prior to North Carolina, Smith spent the 2011-12 season on the coaching staff at UCLA, where she began her coaching career in 1998 as an undergraduate assistant coach under the guidance of head coach Valorie Kondos Field.

Upon her return to UCLA, Smith helped coach the Bruins to a third consecutive top-three finish at the 2012 NCAA Championships.

Smith was an assistant coach at Missouri from 2007-11 and helped guide the Tigers to their first-ever NCAA Championship appearance in 2010. As the team choreographer and balance beam coach, she helped Sarah Shire earn a runner-up finish on floor at the 2010 NCAA Championships and the 2009 Big 12 beam title. Additionally, Adrianne Perry won two consecutive Big 12 floor titles in 2008 and 2009 under Smith’s tutelage.

From 2003-06, Smith was a volunteer assistant coach at Florida, where she became an established choreographer, specializing in floor exercise. During her time with the Gators, Smith choreographed routines for six All-Americans.

Furthermore, Smith served as Kentucky’s choreographer from 2003-05.

A 2001 UCLA graduate, Smith helped propel the Bruins to a national championship in 1997. She earned first-team All-American honors on both vault and floor in 1997, and also captured a Pac-10 Conference title on floor and an NCAA West Regional title on vault. Smith was a team captain in both 1996 and 1997.

Smith spent her first year of collegiate gymnastics at Oklahoma, where she won the Big Eight vault championship, and the vault and floor championships at the 1994 National Invitational Tournament.

At the conclusion of her collegiate career, Smith went on to start her professional career in coaching and choreography, and developed a reputation as a choreographer while coaching camps.

After acting as an undergraduate coach for UCLA from 1997-98, Smith earned her bachelor of arts with a major in English in 2001.

Amy Smith File
Coaching History: