LOGAN, Utah – Utah State's 22nd-ranked gymnastics team will conclude the regular season on the road this weekend with a quad meet in the North Star State.
The Aggies (9-8, 3-4 MRGC) will take on No. 8 Minnesota (7-6, 5-4 Big Ten), Temple (11-8, 3-6 EAGL) and Long Island (6-13, 0-5 EAGL), on Saturday, March 12, at 3 p.m. (MT), at Maturi Pavilion in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Utah State is spending the entire month of March on the road as it already took part in the Washington tri meet last Sunday in Seattle, Washington, and will head to Boise, Idaho, for the MRGC Championships on Saturday, March 19.
Saturday's quad meet will be streamed online at BigTenPlus.com Additionally, live scoring will be available at GopherSports.com, and Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State gymnastics social media outlets for meet updates.
For one Utah State gymnast, Saturday's meet will be a homecoming of sorts. That's because freshman
Molly Arnold is from Bloomington, Minnesota, which is a mere 11 miles or so outside of Minneapolis. Arnold trained at Twin City Twisters in Champlin, Minnesota, for three years under the direction of Steve Hafeman and Sami Wozney, and was a competitor at the 2016 and 2018 national championships. The daughter of Justin and Sarah Arnold graduated in 2021 from Kennedy High School in Bloomington.
Three former Aggies will be on opposite sides of the mat Saturday as former Utah State assistant coach Josh Nilson is in his fourth season as head coach of Temple. He was the Aggies' first assistant coach from 2013-16, as well as the head coach on both vault and bars. A graduate of Utah State, Nilson was a student-coach for the Aggies from 2005-08.
Two of Nilson's student-athletes began their respective collegiate careers at Utah State. Grad student
Faith Leary spent her freshman (2018) and sophomore (2019) campaigns in Logan before transferring to Temple. Owl senior
Caitlin Gray competed in one meet for the Aggies as a freshman in 2019, before transferring to Temple (2021) by way of the University of Bridgeport (2020).
The series between Utah State and Minnesota is tied at 10-apiece, including a 4-1 mark for the Golden Gophers in Minneapolis. The two teams last met on April 14, 2007, at the NCAA Regional Championships in Denver, Colorado. The Aggies finished sixth with a team score of 192.525, while the Golden Gophers placed fifth with a 192.900.
Minnesota is 7-6 overall and 5-4 in the Big Ten after recording a 197.850 in a dual-meet loss at No. 4 Utah on Friday, March 4. The Golden Gophers' Ona Loper tied for the all-around crown, Mya Hooten won the vault and three others – Hooten, Lexy Ramler and Halle Remlinger – all posted a 9.925 on the floor.
Utah State is meeting Temple and Long Island for the first time.
The Aggies are ranked No. 22 in the country in Week 9 of the Road to Nationals rankings with a National Qualifying Score (NQS) of 196.435. Rankings are now 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 overall NQS of 196.435, which is the highest in school history, remained unchanged after placing third at the Washington tri meet last Sunday in Seattle.
The Aggies increased their NQS on both vault (49.040) and beam (49.295). Individually freshman
Brie Clark ranks first in the MRGC and is tied for 15th nationally on floor (9.935). The native of Daphne, Alabama, tied for first on floor with a 9.900 at the Washington tri meet. She has recorded a 9.9 or better on floor in eight of the Aggies' 10 meets this season.
Utah State remains on the road next week as the Aggies head to the Gem State for the MRGC Championships on Saturday, March 19, at 6 p.m., at ExtraMile Arena in Boise, Idaho.
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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