LOGAN, Utah – Utah State's gymnastics team will open the 2021 season at the second annual Rio Tinto Best of Utah NCAA Gymnastics Meet on Saturday, Jan. 9, at the Maverik Center in West Valley City.
The podium event, which will also feature in-state rivals BYU, Southern Utah and Utah, will be televised live on BYUtv, at 7 p.m. Additionally, live scoring will be available online at
https://bit.ly/3shr0NY. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State gymnastics social media outlets for meet updates.
"We are so excited to open the season at the Rio Tinto Best of Utah Meet," said fourth-year Utah State head coach
Amy Smith, who was tabbed the MRGC Coach of the Year in 2020. "We are very appreciative of the Maverik Center and all the work that went into producing this event in such a difficult time. I expect the team to come out and be aggressive, adaptable and resilient, and enjoy the fact that we get to compete."
This year, No. 32 Utah State will begin on the floor, while No. 4 Utah will begin on bars, No. 17 BYU on beam and No. 23 Southern Utah on vault.
"I am super excited to get back out there with my team and pick up where we left off last season on such a high note," said USU senior gymnast
Mikaela Meyer, who competes on vault, bars and floor. "I am also excited to start my senior year and take in every opportunity that comes with it. To be successful this weekend, our team needs to be confident in all our hard work that we put in this preseason, and then we will walk out of the meet pretty happy."
Utah State recorded a 194.150 at the inaugural Rio Tinto Best of Utah last season to place fourth in the meet. The Aggies were tied for second heading into the final rotation, but finished fourth behind No. 5 Utah (197.000), No. 23 BYU (195.575) and Southern Utah (194.650).
The Aggies are 42-33 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.
Before the 2020 season was cut short due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Aggies were ranked 29th in the nation with a National Qualifying Score (NQS) of 195.915 – the highest in school history – and were poised to advance to the NCAA Regional Championships for the first time since 2017.
Utah State defeated every MRGC rival in 2020, snapping a 22-meet losing streak to Boise State (dating back to 2012), a nine-meet losing streak to BYU (dating back to 2017) and a five-meet losing streak to Southern Utah (dating back to 2018).
The Aggies led the MRGC and ranked 19th nationally on beam with a 49.105 NQS. USU recorded the best beam score in school history with a 49.575 at the Boise State quad meet.
Utah State averaged 49.039 on beam, which set the single-season school record. The Aggies averaged 48.875 on vault (third all-time in single-season school history), 48.756 on bars (tied for sixth) and 48.992 on floor (fifth).
USU recorded the second- (196.800), fourth- (196.600) and fifth-best (196.525) team scores in school history in 2020, and the 196.600 against No. 17 BYU and the 196.525 against No. 20 Southern Utah are the second- and third-best home scores in school history. The 196.800 at the Boise State quad meet ranks second all-time for an away meet.
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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