LOGAN, Utah – Utah State head gymnastics coach Amy Smith announced Friday that assistant coach Erik Lewis has been elevated to the title of associate head coach.
 
"After coming off one of the best years in recent history for Utah State gymnastics, I am beyond excited to announce the promotion of Erik Lewis to associate head coach," Smith said. "Erik has been instrumental in the success of this program over the last year. His understanding of what it means to be a first assistant has been vital in helping this program function at the level it needed to garner the success we had this last year.
 
"The fact that he and I are able to challenge one another in the way that it is done for the greater good of the student-athletes has been vital in taking this program to the next level. He has also done such a tremendous job with recruiting that all of us are just so incredibly excited about the future of Utah State gymnastics."
 
Lewis, the head bars coach for the Aggies, recently finished his second season at Utah State, where he also assists with Smith on floor. During the 2020 campaign, Lewis helped coach Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference Gymnast of the Year Autumn DeHarde and MRGC Freshman of the Year Sofi Sullivan.
 
"It's such an honor to be at Utah State in the first place," Lewis said. "This just means that much more. I am so appreciative of Amy and being able to learn and grow under her. Working with her and Amanda (Wellick) is a great experience. I can't wait to see where this program ends up in the coming years. It's a special time right now for Utah State gymnastics."
 
DeHarde also earned MRGC co-Beam and co-Floor Specialist of the Year accolades, and was named to the first team on both events. Sullivan shared the MRGC co-Beam Specialist of the Year award with DeHarde, and also earned first-team honors on the event.

DeHarde averaged 9.883 on floor, which ranks second all-time in single-season school history. She had a career-high 9.950 on the event against No. 17 BYU, which is tied for third all-time in school history, and also had a 9.925 against No. 20 Southern Utah, which is tied for 17th all-time in school history.
 
Lewis also coached Leighton Varnadore, who averaged 9.839 on floor, which is tied for 10th all-time in single-season school history. Varnadore, a second-team MRGC honoree on vault, tied for eighth in the MRGC with a National Qualifying Score of 9.855 on floor. She had a career-high 39.350 in the all-around, which is tied for 17th all-time in school history, at the Boise State quad meet (2/21).

Under Lewis' guidance in 2020, Grace Rojas averaged 9.800 on bars, which is tied for third all-time in school history. Rojas ranked 10th in the MRGC with a National Qualifying Score of 9.825 on bars.
 
"Aside from his incredible technical ability, it is even more so his ability to connect and motivate the student-athletes to work at a higher level," Smith said. "I am forever grateful to him for his loyalty and trusting and supporting me in running this program. I am also very appreciative to him for his commitment to the betterment of the program, the student-athletes and myself. Utah State gymnastics is building momentum and Erik has been an indispensable component of that."

Last season, Utah State averaged 48.756 on bars, which is tied for sixth all-time in single-season school history, and averaged 48.992 on floor, which ranks fifth all-time in single-season school history.
 
The Aggies finished the 2020 campaign with a 7-6-1 overall record, marking the first time since 1999 that the Aggies ended the season with a winning record. Furthermore, Utah State went undefeated (4-0) at home for just the second time in school history, joining the 1978 (8-0) team.
 
The Aggies recorded the second-, fourth- and fifth-best team scores in all-time school history with a 196.800 at the Boise State quad meet, a 196.600 against BYU and a 196.525 against Southern Utah (2/14).
 
In the home meet against BYU, Utah State had a 49.275 on bars, which is tied for seventh all-time in school history.
 
Academically during the 2020 spring semester, Utah State gymnasts had a term GPA of 3.542. The NCAA released its annual Division I Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores in May and all 16 of Utah State's athletic programs exceeded the 930 four-year benchmark set by the NCAA to qualify for postseason competition. The gymnastics program had a score of 976.
 
Of the 212 Utah State student-athletes that were recognized by the athletics department as Joe E. and Elma Whitesides Scholar-Athletes – to be eligible for the honor, student-athletes must have a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or have posted a 3.2 GPA during the last two semesters – 14 were gymnasts.
 
"Erik also oversees academics, which we had the best academic showing here in 10-plus years during the 2019-20 academic year," Smith said.
 
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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