LOGAN, Utah – Fresh off a quad-meet sweep at West Virginia last weekend, Utah State gymnastics returns home to face Alaska Anchorage on Friday, Feb. 22, at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The dual meet featuring the Aggies (4-6, 0-4 MRGC) and Seawolves (6-4, 3-3 MPSF) is slated to begin at 7 p.m.
Friday's dual meet against Alaska will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network as a USU Athletics Production. Additionally, live stats will be available online at utahstateaggies.com and meet updates will be provided through the team's social media outlets.
This is the sixth-ever meeting between the Aggies and Seawolves since March 2, 2007, when USU defeated UAA 194.525-186.750 at home. Utah State leads the all-time series, 5-0.
Utah State enters Friday's meet against Alaska ranked 30th nationally and seventh in the North Central Region with an average team score of 194.904, including a high of 196.075 set last Sunday at the West Virginia quad meet. As a team, the Aggies are 31st in the nation on vault (48.746), 29th on bars (48.700), 37th on beam (48.554) and 29th on floor (48.904).
Individually, senior Madison Ward-Sessions is tied for 33rd nationally on floor (9.879), ranks 60th on vault (9.817) and ranks 45th in the all-around (39.067). Sophomore Autumn DeHarde is tied for 54th nationally on beam (9.817), while fellow sophomore Leighton Varnadore ranks 57th in the nation in the all-around (38.958).
Alaska is ranked 61st in the nation and ninth in the West Region with an average team score of 191.929, including a high of 194.100. The Seawolves are 65th nationally on vault (47.711), 61st on bars (47.571), 55th on beam (48.118) and 49th on floor (48.529).
The Seawolves' Sophia Hyderally and Mackenzie Miller rank eighth and 10th on bars in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) with average scores of 9.654 and 9.629, respectively. Hyderally also ranks seventh in the conference on beam (9.750) and fourth on floor (9.807). UAA's Isabelle Fox is eighth in the league in the all-around (38.350).
Utah State posted a season-high 196.075 to win its first quad meet since 2015, beating host West Virginia (195.575), Pittsburgh (195.100) and Cornell (193.075) last Sunday at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, W.Va. The Aggies' 196.075 tied for the fourth-highest road score in school history and tied for the 12th-highest team score overall.
Utah State will head back out on the road when it travels to the Gem State to compete in a tri meet hosted by No. 10 Boise State on Friday, March 1, at 7 p.m., at Taco Bell Arena in Boise, Idaho. Joining the Aggies and Broncos will be No. 18 Washington. This will be the Aggies' and Broncos' second meeting of the season after BSU defeated USU 196.075-194.975 on Feb. 8, at the Spectrum.
Fans can follow the Aggie gymnastics program at twitter.com/USUGymnastics, on Facebook at Utah State Gymnastics, and on Instagram at USUGymnastics. Fans can also follow the USU athletic program at twitter.com/USUAthletics or on Facebook at UtahStateAthletics.
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