UTAH STATE OPENS HOME SLATE AGAINST IN-STATE RIVAL BYU ON FRIDAY
Utah State (1-3, 1-2 Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference) opens the home portion of its schedule on Friday, Jan. 27, when the Aggies welcome in-state rival BYU (1-6, 1-2 MRGC) to the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The dual meet featuring the Aggies and Cougars will begin at 7 p.m.
AGGIES IN HOME OPENERS
Utah State is 38-18 all-time in home openers, a record that takes several multi-team meets into account. Friday will mark the ninth time the Aggies have hosted BYU in a home-opening meet. The two teams have split the previous eight matchups. USU is 22-14 all-time in dual-meet home openers.
SCOUTING BYU
BYU leads the all-time series with Utah State 87-52-1, including an 0-1 mark this season. The Cougars lead the Aggies 27-26 in Logan and have won three straight at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
BYU is ranked No. 41 in the country in Week 3 of the Road to Nationals rankings with an average team score of 194.808. The Cougars are also tied for 26th in the nation on bars (48.900) and tied for 36th on floor (48.900), while ranking 40th on vault (48.767) and 52nd on beam (48.242).
Individually, Elease Rollins is tied for 25th nationally on beam with an average score of 9.883, including high of 9.900.
BYU notched its first victory of the season a week ago when the Cougars opened their home slate with a 195.475-195.300 Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference dual-meet victory over Boise State. BYU scored a 48.650 on vault, 49.175 on bars, 48.400 on beam and 49.250 on floor.
SULLIVAN HONORED BY MRGC FOLLOWING BEST OF UTAH MEET
Utah State senior Sofi Sullivan was tabbed the co-Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference (MRGC) Beam Specialist of the Week, the league announced Monday. It was Sullivan's first weekly conference honor this year and the sixth of her career.
Sullivan helped Utah State notch its second-best season-opening score in program history with a 195.800 as the Aggies placed third at the fourth-annual Rio Tinto Best of Utah Meet on Jan. 13, at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah. She was tabbed the Aggies' MVP of the meet as she tied for fourth on beam with a 9.900.
The native of Manhattan Beach, California, shared Beam Specialist of the Week accolades with Boise State junior Emily Lopez, who also had a 9.900 on the event as the Broncos opened their season at the Wasatch Classic.
AGGIES IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Utah State is ranked No. 43 in the country in Week 3 of the Road to Nationals rankings with an average team score of 194.613. The Aggies are also tied for 30th in the nation on floor (49.000) and tied for 38th on beam (48.600), and rank 48th on both vault (48.588) and bars (48.425). Individually, junior Brianna Brooks is tied for 77th nationally in the all-around (38.800) and tied for 93rd on bars (9.825), while senior Sofi Sullivan ranks 45th on beam (9.862).
BROOKS COMPETES IN ALL-AROUND FOR FIRST TIME
Utah State's Brianna Brooks competed in the all-around for the first time in her collegiate career during the Aggies' Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference dual meet at No. 21 Southern Utah on Friday, Jan. 20. The junior from Las Vegas, Nevada, opened the meet by placing second on bars with a 9.875. She then tied for fourth on vault (9.775), placed 11th on floor (9.375) and placed seventh on beam (9.775).
REACHING NEW HEIGHTS
In Utah State's Jan. 20 outing at No. 21 Southern Utah, five different gymnasts set eight career-best marks in the meet. Junior Brianna Brooks placed second in the all-around and 11th on floor with career-best scores of 38.800 and 9.375, respectively. Fellow junior Jenna Eagles tied for eighth on floor with a personal-best score of 9.700. Sophomore Amari Evans made her collegiate debut on vault and placed 12th with a career-best score of 9.575, while also placing seventh on bars with a personal-best 9.725. Another Aggie sophomore, Dani Kirstine, tied for fourth on bars with a career-best 9.800 and made her collegiate debut on beam, tying for fifth with another 9.800. And finally, freshman Marley Peterson tied for seventh on floor with a career-high 9.800.
RECAPPING LAST WEEK'S DUAL MEET AT NO. 21 SUU
Utah State suffered five falls – three on bars and two on beam – and had another gymnast step out of bounds while completing a pass on her floor routine in its 196.600-193.425 loss to No. 21 Southern Utah in front of a raucous crowd of 2,850 on Friday, Jan. 20, at the America First Event Center in Cedar City, Utah.
The Aggies had two count two falls on the night. Utah State began the meet on bars, where the first two gymnasts to compete suffered falls. Junior Brianna Brooks righted the ship for the Aggies when she recorded a season-high 9.875 in the third spot, placing second in the process. Sophomores Dani Kirstine and Amari Evans tied for fourth and placed seventh, respectively, with career-best scores of 9.800 and 9.725 on the event.
The Aggies finished with a 47.825 on bars, while the Thunderbirds opened with a 49.025 on vault.
In the second rotation, Brooks tied for fourth with a 9.775, while senior Alivia Ostendorf tied for sixth with a 9.725. The Aggies earned a 48.550 on vault and trailed the Thunderbirds 97.975-96.375 at the midway point of the meet.
Freshman Marley Peterson led off the third rotation on floor with a career-high 9.800, tying for seventh. Senior Ariel Toomey placed sixth with a 9.825. Evans and Ostendorf matched the 9.800 turned in by Peterson. Utah State finished with a 48.875 on the event.
In the final rotation, the first two Aggies to go on beam both fell, but the next four hit, highlighted by a 9.825 from senior Sofi Sullivan, who placed fourth on the event. Kirstine tied for fifth on with a personal-best 9.800 in the sixth spot.
Brooks competed in the all-around for the first time in her career, earning a 38.800 to place second.
