Jan. 8, 2008

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LOGAN, Utah - Utah State gymnastics worked out its pre-meet jitters with some solid marks at Tuesday's "Meet The Aggies" exhibition, held in the HPER gym.

"We're ready," said USU head coach Ray Corn, who is entering his 31st season at the helm of the Aggie program and is the only head coach in USU's Division I history. "We had a few pre-meet jitters, but we worked them out and will build on these performances."

The Aggies conducted the intrasquad meet in the rotation role of the visiting team in preparation for Friday's season-opener at Boise State by starting on bars, where freshman Nicole Simoneau posted a team-high 9.850 while junior Nicki Felley logged a 9.800. Freshman Chelsea Marquardt and senior Megan Tschida each tallied a 9.750 to tie for third.

"We had a solid outing on bars, with some good scores to build off for the season," Corn said.

After bars USU moved to vault, where freshman Jasmine Minion logged top honors with a 9.750, followed by Felley's 9.650, while Marquardt and sophomore Heather Heinrich tied for third with 9.600's.

"We're not fully prepared for vault yet, but when we are, I think it will be our strongest event," Corn said. "The ladies did a good job today and they will only get better in the coming weeks."

For their third rotation the Aggies were on floor exercise, where senior Ana Rickard-Whitfield posted a team-best 9.750. Minion and fellow freshman Lyndsie Boone tied for second with 9.700's each.

"On floor our tumbling was very strong," Corn said. "We have some improved choreography which will only help us get to a different level of competition."

In the final rotation, USU performed on beam, where the Aggies struggle a bit, not posting as high of scores as a group compared to the other events. Felley and Heinrich had solid performances, each recording 9.850's, while Simoneau posted a 9.750.

"We can't get so rattled on beam. We struggled a bit with some scores, but this is all part of helping us get used to college gymnastics," Corn said.

Only three gymnasts competed in all four events in the top six of the rotation lineup to officially score, with Heinrich taking top scoring honors with a 38.700, followed by Felley's 38.300 and Simoneau with a 38.150.

"All in all, I'm not disappointed with the outcome of today," Corn said. "It's as live of an intrasquad as we've had and is great preparation for the upcoming season."

The 2008 season kicks of Friday, Jan. 11 in a dual at Boise State, who tied Utah State for third in the WAC preseason poll, released earlier this week.

"I'm looking forward to the start of the season, we've got to be ready at this point, there's no turning back now," Corn said. "We'll just evaluate everything and see where the chips fall. With all of our newcomers, we just need to build and learn, and adapt to college gymnastics. The real test is to see how we adapt and improve week to week."

USU returns to Logan for its home-opener on Friday, Jan. 18 against Sacramento State, followed by its second meet in as many weeks against Boise State in the Spectrum on Tuesday, Jan. 22.

The Aggies have six freshmen who will compete this season along with seven returners from last season's squad that finished third at the 2007 WAC Championships and sixth at last year's NCAA Regionals, marking the 26th time in the 30 years of USU Gymnastics that Utah State qualified for postseason competition.

USU will begin the 2008 season ranked 33rd in the country according to the Troester Women's Preseason Coaches Poll.

Fans can watch all USU gymnastics home meets live via the internet through UtahState.tv, available through www.UtahStateAggies.com, the official web site of USU athletics.

This Friday's meet at Boise State will also be available to watch through the internet, streamed on Boise State's Bronco Vision, for a cost of $9.95.

Click here to register to watch live

All USU home meets begin at 6:30 p.m.

Gymnastics tickets are available through the USU Ticket Office at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, online at www.UtahStateAggies.com and clicking on "tickets" in left column, or by calling 1-888-U-STATE-1 or (435) 797-0305.

USU:  BARS: 48.800, VAULT: 47.600, FLOOR: 48.300, BEAM: 46.950
BARS: Simoneau 9.850, Felley 9.800, Marquardt 9.750, Tschida 9.750, Heinrich 9.650, Omann 9.600
VAULT: Minion 9.750, Felley 9.650, Marquardt 9.600, Heinrich 9.600, Simoneau 9.000, Rickard-Whitfield 9.000
FLOOR: Rickard-Whitfield 9.750, Boone 9.700, Minion 9.700, Heinrich 9.600, Simoneau 9.550, Felley 9.000
BEAM: Felley 9.850, Heinrich 9.850, Simoneau 9.750, Minion 9.000, Marquardt 8.500, Tschida 7.000
All-Around: Heinrich 38.700, Felley 38.300, Simoneau 38.150