BOISE, Idaho – Fueled by a record-setting performance on the balance beam, No. 26 Utah State recorded a season-high 196.800 to tie Boise State for first place in a quad meet Friday night at ExtraMile Arena.
 
"This meet was incredible," said USU junior beam specialist Taylor Dittmar. "I have total trust in my teammates, and total faith and confidence, that I know they're going to hit, I know they're going to do their best and I know we're going to have each other's backs."
 
The Aggies (5-6-1, 2-4-1 Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference) recorded a school-record 49.575 on beam, breaking the old mark of 49.475 set in a home tri meet against Boise State and Utah on Feb. 26, 1999. Furthermore, the 196.800 is the second-highest score in school history.
 
UC Davis (8-6) placed third with a 195.850, while Sacramento State (3-12) finished fourth with a 192.700. This marked just the third tie in program history for the Aggies, with the other two coming against San Diego State (1985) and BYU (1990).
 
Leighton Varnadore won the all-around for the Aggies with a career-high 39.350. The junior from Aiken, S.C., also tied for first on floor (9.900) and tied for first on vault (9.875). Fellow junior Mikaela Meyer also tied for first on vault with a career-high-tying 9.875.
 
On beam, USU junior Autumn DeHarde and freshman Sofi Sullivan tied for first with identical 9.950s. For DeHarde, it was her 11th such title on the event, which tied the school record first set by Christy Denson (1997-2000).
 
"It felt really good," DeHarde said of the team's performance on beam. "I just wanted to get up there and do what I do every day in practice, and I knew that they were scoring high, so I knew it could pay off."
 
Boise State (2-5-1, 0-3-1 MRGC) took the top three spots on bars, highlighted by a 9.975 from Emily Muhlenhaupt.
 
For the second-consecutive week for Utah State, the meet came down to the final routine. After Varnadore stuck her vault, the Aggies were locked in at 196.800. In the anchor position on floor, the Broncos' Adriana Popp needed to go 9.900 for BSU to tie USU, which is exactly what she did.
"What an amazing night," said third-year Utah State head coach Amy Smith. "It's a broken record, but I keep saying that we keep getting better and better, and we keep getting better and better."
 
ROTATION ONE | BARS
Smith admitted the Aggies were sluggish during warmups and it showed as Utah State opened the meet with a 48.825 on bars. Senior Brittany Jeppesen and sophomore Grace Rojas each had a 9.825 to tie for third on the event.
 
Utah State found itself in third place following the first rotation. UC Davis was in first after scoring a 49.200 on beam, while Boise State was in second after recording a 49.150 on vault. Sacramento State was in fourth after opening with a 48.625 on floor.
 
ROTATION TWO | BEAM
 
After their school record on beam, Utah State jumped into the lead with a 98.400 at the midway point. Boise State remained in second (98.375), while UC Davis fell to third (98.100) and Sacramento State was in fourth (96.325).
 
While DeHarde and Sullivan tied for first, Dittmar tied for third with a career-high 9.925, exorcising any demons she might have had after suffering a season-ending injury on the same event at Boise State a year ago.
 
"I just wanted to come into this meet for redemption," Dittmar said. "I wanted to go into it really calm and confident, and just put it all out there and be intentional and do what I've been doing in practice, because I've been putting in the work in practice, and I really wanted to show it here."
 
Varnadore (tied career high) and sophomore Carley Bayles (career high) tied for fifth on beam with 9.875s.
 
"After bars, I told them they were one of the best beam teams in the country and let's get over there and handle it, and they handle it," Smith said. "Taylor doing what she did after the experience she had here last time was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. I don't think they liked me too much this week because we hammered home dismounts. I knew we could get that beam record if we could start sticking dismounts. We hammered those home, and it showed up, and then the meet just kept building."
 
ROTATION THREE | FLOOR
 
Behind Varnadore's 9.900 on floor, the Aggies recorded a 49.225 on the event. DeHarde tied for third with a 9.875. Utah State remained in first place (147.575) following the third rotation. The Broncos were still in second (147.400), UC Davis (147.075) was in third and Sacramento State (143.825) was in fourth.
 
ROTATION FOUR | VAULT
 
The Aggies finished the quad meet with a 49.175 on vault, highlighted by the performances of Meyer and Varnadore. Of the five scores that contributed to the team score, each gymnast stuck their respective landing.
 
"It was super exciting," Dittmar said. "One after another, one after another, we were sticking the landings like crazy. The team has been putting in the work at the gym on these landings, and they brought it here today."
 
UP NEXT
Utah State returns home to face UC Davis on Friday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m., at the Dee Glen Smith 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.
 
No. 26 Utah State at Boise State Quad Meet – Boise, Idaho – ExtraMile Arena – Feb. 21, 2020
 
Team Results: T1. Utah State – 196.800 (vault: 49.175, bars: 48.825, beam: 49.575, floor: 49.225); T1. Boise State – 196.800 (vault: 49.150, bars: 49.225, beam: 49.025, floor: 49.400); 3. UC Davis – 195.850 (vault: 48.975, bars: 48.775, beam: 49.200, floor: 48.900); 4. Sacramento State – 192.700 (vault: 47.700, bars: 47.500, beam: 48.875, floor: 48.625).
 
Vault: T1. Mikaela Meyer – USU, 9.875; T1. Leighton Varnadore – USU, 9.875; T1. Gabriela Bouza – BSU, 9.875; T6. Grace Rojas – USU, 9.825; T9. Sofi Sullivan – USU, 9.800; T9. Rebecca Wells – USU, 9.800; 17. Autumn DeHarde – USU, 9.725.
 
Bars: 1. Emily Muhlenhaupt – BSU, 9.975; 2. Maddi Nilson – BSU, 9.850; T3. Brittany Jeppesen – USU, 9.825; T3. Grace Rojas – USU, 9.825; T6. Sofi Sullivan – USU, 9.800; T15. Leighton Varnadore – USU, 9.700; 17. Maia Fishwick – USU, 9.675; 22. Jessica Gutierrez – USU, 9.350.
 
Beam: T1. Autumn DeHarde – USU, 9.950; T1. Sofi Sullivan – USU, 9.950; T3. Taylor Dittmar – USU, 9.925; T3. Alyssa Ito – UCD, 9.925; T5. Leighton Varnadore – USU, 9.875; T5. Carley Bayles – USU, 9.875; 23. Maia Fishwick – USU, 9.350.
 
Floor: T1. Leighton Varnadore – USU, 9.900; T1. Adriana Popp – BSU, 9.900; T3. Autumn DeHarde – USU, 9.875; T3. Samantha Smith – BSU, 9.875; T3. Isabella Amado – BSU, 9.875; T3. Tatum Bruden – BSU, 9.875; T8. Ariel Toomey – USU, 9.850; 12. Rebecca Wells – USU, 9.825; T14. Sofi Sullivan – USU, 9.775; T14. Mikaela Meyer – USU, 9.775.
 
All-Around: 1. Leighton Varnadore – USU, 39.350; 2. Sofi Sullivan – USU, 39.325; 3. Gabby Landess – UCD, 39.250.
 
-USU-