LOGAN, Utah – Utah State's 14th-ranked gymnastics team returns to the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum for a dual-meet weekend beginning on Friday, Feb. 25, when the Aggies host No. 12 BYU and No. 23 Towson.
The Aggies (7-5, 3-3 Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference), Cougars (7-4-1, 5-3 MRGC) and Tigers (12-3, 5-2 East Atlantic Gymnastics League) will compete at 7 p.m. The tri meet will be streamed live at
utahstateaggies.com/watch and live scoring will be available via
sidearm. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State gymnastics social media outlets for meet updates.
USU will conclude the dual-meet weekend by hosting Towson on Sunday, Feb. 27, at 3 p.m..
At the conclusion of Friday night's meet, Utah State will honor its three seniors in
Carley Bayles (BB),
Anique Grenier (UB) and
Grace Rojas (VT/UB/BB). Bayles is tied for 13th all-time in school history with a single-season beam average of 9.775 (2020), while Rojas ranks third and is tied for fourth all-time in school history with single-season bars averages of 9.809 (2021) and 9.800 (2020).
The Aggies head into the weekend with a National Qualifying Score (NQS) of 196.180. This is the first week that rankings are determined by NQS, which is calculated with the six-highest scores of the season, at least three of which must be from away meets. The highest of the six scores is dropped and the remaining five scores are averaged.
Utah State's initial NQS of 196.180 is the highest in school history. Three of the four teams from the MRGC are ranked in the top 25 this week as BYU jumped six spots to No. 12, while Southern Utah also climbed six spots to No. 17. Boise State has only competed in five meets this year, therefore does not have an NQS ranking.
The Aggies boast one of the best beam lineups in the nation as they rank first in the MRGC and 12th nationally on the event with an NQS of 49.125. Utah State is also No. 18 on bars (49.025) and No. 19 on floor (49.100).
Individually freshman
Brie Clark ranks first in the MRGC and is tied for second nationally on floor (9.930), junior
Sofi Sullivan is second in the MRGC and tied for 21st in the nation on beam (9.865), and sophomore
Brianna Brooks is second in the MRGC and tied for 23rd in the nation on bars (9.870).
BYU leads the all-time series with Utah State 86-50-1. The two teams have already split a pair of meetings this season with the Aggies beating the Cougars 195.875-195.225 at the Rio Tinto Best of Utah Meet (Jan. 7), and BYU returning the favor in Provo, 196.775-196.450 (Jan. 28). The Cougars have won 14 of the last 16 matchups in the series.
The Cougars have an NQS of 196.420. They rank 11th on bars (49.165), 13th on beam (49.120) and 15th on floor (49.165). Individually, Elease Rollins is 18th in the nation on beam (9.875), Brittney Vitkauskas is 20th on floor (9.885) and Sadie Miner-Van Tassell is fifth in the all-around (39.350).
The Aggies and Tigers are meeting for the first time this weekend. In a tri meet last Saturday against West Virginia and Ursinus College, Towson posted scores of 49.000 or better in every rotation en route to placing second with a 196.525, the fourth-best score in school history.
Towson has an NQS of 195.540, the second-best NQS in the EAGL, trailing only No. 22 North Carolina (195.545). The Tigers are also 21st on bars (48.950) and 21st on beam (48.910).
For more information on the Utah State gymnastics program, follow the Aggies on Twitter at @USUGymnastics, on Facebook at UtahStateGymnastics and on Instagram at USUGymnastics.
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