USU Meet Notes

Utah State will lift the lid on its 2019 campaign on Saturday, Jan. 12, at Pittsburgh. The quad meet, which also features Eastern Michigan and West Virginia, will begin at noon (MT) inside the Panthers' 6,798-seat Fitzgerald Field House. This is the first of two trips to the East Coast for the Aggies, who will also travel to West Virginia for a quad meet on Feb. 17. USU is opening the season on the road for the third straight year.
 
TUNING IN    
Saturday's quad meet at Pittsburgh will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra, which is available through the WatchESPN app. Additionally, live scoring will be available online at https://bit.ly/2RhYuwx, and fans can follow the Utah State gymnastics social media outlets for meet updates.
 
SEASON OPENERS     
The Aggies are 41-28 all-time in season openers, a record that takes several multi-team meets into account. In Utah State's season- and program-opening meet on Jan. 9, 1978, the Aggies placed first in the Air Force-hosted Rocky Mountain Open. USU finished with a team score of 131.650, defeating eight other schools.
 
USU VERSUS PITT    
• Saturday is the first of two contests this season between Utah State and Pitt, as the two teams will also face each other at the West Virginia quad meet on Sunday, Feb. 17.
• The Aggies are 0-3 all-time against the Panthers, including 0-1 at home and 0-2 at a neutral site.
• In the two teams' last meeting, Pittsburgh recorded a 194.550-192.675 win over Utah State on March 6, 2009, at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Prior to that, the Aggies and Panthers had not faced each other since 1981.
• The Aggies are 1-13 all-time against schools from the Keystone State, including 1-10 against Penn State.
• Utah State has never faced Pitt in the Steel City.
 
USU VERSUS EASTERN MICHIGAN    
• Saturday is the first-ever meeting between Utah State and Eastern Michigan.
• The Aggies are 4-10 all-time against schools from the Great Lakes State, including 2-3 vs. Michigan, 1-2 against Michigan State and 1-5 vs. Central Michigan.
 
USU VERSUS WEST VIRGINIA    
• Saturday is the first of two contests this season between Utah State and West Virginia, as the two teams will also face each other at a quad meet hosted by the Mountaineers on Sunday, Feb. 17.
• The Aggies are 2-4 all-time against the Mountaineers, including 1-0 at home and 1-4 at a neutral site.
• West Virginia has won the last four meetings, including a 192.400-191.200 victory on April 7, 2001, at the NCAA Regional Championships in Salt Lake City.
 
AGGIES IN JANUARY
     Utah State is 135-96 all-time during the month of January, including 57-21 at home, 27-55 on the road and 51-20 at a neutral site. Saturday will mark the Aggies' sixth-ever meet on Jan. 12. Utah State is 6-4 all-time on the date – 3-0 at home, 1-3 on the road and 2-1 at a neutral site. This is the first time since 2013 the Aggies will be competing on the 13th day of the month.
 
WHAT THE AGGIES BRING BACK
The Aggies return 12 letterwinners from last year's team that placed third at the MRGC Championships with a team score of 195.825. Five of the returning Aggies competed at the 2018 NCAA Regional Championships in Minneapolis, Minn. Madison Ward-Sessions was Utah State's top finisher at regionals as the native of Rexburg, Idaho, recorded a career-high-tying 9.925 on floor to tie for fifth on the event, which ranks first all-time in school history for an NCAA Regional Championships meet. She also tied for 21st on vault with a 9.800, which is tied for eighth all-time in school history at a regional meet. In her only event at regionals, Brittany Jeppesen tied for 12th on bars with a 9.850, which is tied for third all-time in school history at a regional meet. Like Ward-Sessions, Autumn DeHarde also competed on two events, tying for 15th on beam with a 9.775 and tying for 32nd on floor with a 9.775. Mikaela Meyer tied for 29th on vault with a 9.775 and Emily Briones tied for 19th on beam with a 9.725. Prior to those five gymnasts competing at the NCAA Regional Championships, Ward-Sessions earned first-team all-MRGC accolades by tying for first on floor (9.900). Ward-Sessions and Meyer each earned first-team all-MRGC honors on vault as they tied for third with matching 9.850s. The final Aggie to earn all-league accolades was Briones, who was a second-team honoree on beam as she placed sixth with a 9.825. At the conclusion of the meet, DeHarde was named the MRGC Freshman of the Year.
 
POSTSEASON CHANGES
The postseason will have a new look in 2019. For the first time since 1999, there have been significant changes to the way teams advance to the NCAA Championships. The number of teams that advance to regionals, 36, will remain the same, but starting this season, the regional competition goes from six regional sites featuring a single six-team session, with the top-two teams advancing to the NCAA Championships, to a four-regional, three-day affair that includes four sessions.
The first day includes the two lowest-seeded teams in a dual meet format competing for the final spot in the next day's semifinal round. On day two, there are two four-team sessions, with the top-two teams from each advancing to the regional finals. On the final day of regional competition, the top-two squads from the four-team final advance to the NCAA Championships semifinals, which are being held in Fort Worth, Texas.
The regional round is not the only one to see a major overhaul. For the first time since 1987, there will not be six-team sessions at the national championships and for the first time since 1992, there won't be a Super Six Team Final. The NCAA Championships will now include two four-team semifinal sessions, followed by four teams on the floor the final night of the season competing for the national title.
 
POSTSEASON SITES
The Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference Championships will be held in Provo, Utah, on Friday, March 22, at 6 p.m. The NCAA Championships will be held in Fort Worth, Texas, (April 19-20). The NCAA Regional Championships will be held over three days at one of four sites – Baton Rouge, La., Ann Arbor, Mich., Athens, Ga., and Corvallis, Ore. (April 4-6).
 
LOOKING AHEAD   
Utah State will open the home portion of its schedule by hosting Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference-foe BYU on Friday, Jan. 18, at 7 p.m., at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The Cougars officially open their season this Friday at in-state rival Utah.