March 10, 2003

Stats

LOGAN, Utah - The meet's top three all-around performances from Meagan Nelson, Nicole Kilpatrick and Jessica Parenti led No. 24 Utah State to a win against Southern Utah and No. 25 Central Michigan here Monday, three days after the Aggies took fourth to SUU and CMU at Brigham Young. The Aggies scored 195.850, SUU was second (195.375) and the Chippewas were third (195.075).

Nelson, a freshman, won her third all-around title of the season with a 39.35. Kilpatrick was second (39.325) and Parenti finished third (39.250). Nelson tied former Aggie Christy Denson with a school-record ninth all-around score better than 39.00 this season.

"I really appreciated the courage and tenacity with which the beam team performed," said USU head coach Ray Corn. "I thought we were as aggressive as we have been all year long. We had a floor performance that was absolutely unbelievable. It wasn't recording-setting, but it was enough to capture a win."

Kilpatrick and Liesel Kohler (9.875) tied for the floor title, leading USU to 49.100 on the event. Rachel Ropelato set a career high with a 9.900 on vault, winning the event title. Nelson won the bars title (9.850).

Southern Utah led the meet following the first rotation (48.975), while USU was second (48.900) and CMU was third (48.825). The Aggies claimed first place after the second rotation with a 48.900 on bars, while the Chippewas and SUU were tied for second. USU held a slim 0.20 advantage over Central Michigan going into the final rotation, but USU's 49.125 on floor combined with Southern Utah's meet-winning bars score of 48.925 gave SUU second place in the final standings.

SUU's Talayna Fortunato and Carly Geronimo each claimed a share of the bars title (9.85), and both finished second on beam (9.9). Central Michigan claimed the fourth and fifth places in the all-around competition with Sarah Burtinsky (39.225) and Kara Reighard (39.200).

The Aggies host North Carolina State in their final home meet of the season Friday at 7 p.m. in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.

UTAH STATE 195.850 SOUTHERN UTAH 195.375 CENTRAL MICHIGAN 195.075

TOP THREE BY EVENTVAULT (UTAH STATE 48.900, SOUTHERN UTAH 48.875, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 48.550)1. Rachel Ropelato (USU) 9.9002T. Meagan Nelson (USU) 9.8502T. Kara Reighard (CMU) 9.850BARS (SOUTHERN UTAH 48.925, UTAH STATE 48.900, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 48.825)1T. Meagan Nelson (USU) 9.8501T. Sara Burtinsky (CMU) 9.8501T. Katie Teft (CMU) 9.8501T. Talayna Fortunato (SUU) 9.8501T. Carly Geronimo (SUU) 9.850BEAM (SOUTHERN UTAH 48.975, UTAH STATE 48.925, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 48.750)1. Kara Reighard (CMU) 9.9252T. Jessica Parenti (USU) 9.9002T. Talayna Fortunato (SUU) 9.9002T. Carly Geronimo (SUU) 9.900FLOOR (UTAH STATE 49.125, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 48.950, SOUTHERN UTAH 48.600)1T. Nicole Kilpatrick (USU) 9.8751T. Liesel Kohler (USU) 9.8753T. Jessica Parenti (USU) 9.8253T. Sara Burtinsky (CMU) 9.8253T. Sarah Dame (CMU) 9.825ALL-AROUND1. Meagan Nelson (USU) 39.3502. Nicole Kilpatrick (USU) 39.3253. Jessica Parenti (USU) 39.250