UTAH STATE HEADS TO GEM STATE FOR MRGC DUAL MEET AT BOISE STATE 
Utah State (1-4, 1-3 Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference) returns to action on Friday, Feb. 3, when the Aggies take on Boise State (0-5, 0-2 MRGC) at ExtraMile Arena in Boise, Idaho. The MRGC dual meet featuing the Aggies and Broncos is slated to begin at 7 p.m.

FOLLOW ALONG 
Friday's dual meet will be streamed online at broncosports.com and live scoring will be available online at statbroadcast.com. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State gymnastics social media outlets for meet updates.

SCOUTING BOISE STATE
The Broncos earned their highest score of the season against No. 21 Southern Utah in front of 1,675 fans last Friday night at ExtraMile Arena. Boise State tallied a 195.700 in the dual-meet loss to the Thunderbirds.

For the third time in as many meets, Boise State earned its highest score on beam, securing a season-high 49.300. The quintet of scorers all posted a 9.800 or better, including a pair of 9.925s from sophomore Emma Loyim and senior Adriana Popp.

The Broncos' bar team also put on a season-best performance, cracking the 49.000 mark for the first time this season (49.175). Junior duo Courtney Blackson and Emily Lopez accounted for a pair of 9.925s.

Blackson and Lopez are tied for 11th nationally on bars, averaging 9.917. Lopez is also tied for 25th nationally on beam, averaging a 9.883 on the apparatus. As a team, Boise State ranks 13th on beam (49.183) and is 35th overall with its average score of 195.350.

A native of Milwaukie, Oregon, head coach Tina Bird came to Boise State in 1985 as a freshman on the gymnastics team under former head coach Jackie Carringer. She was a scholarship athlete for the Broncos from 1986-89 and held the school record on floor for four years.

Prior to being named co-head coach in 2008, Bird spent 18 seasons as an assistant at Boise State under Sam Sandmire (1990-2007). She was then promoted to co-head coach alongside Neil Resnick, leading the Broncos to nine conference championships, including a streak of five straight (2015-19).

SULLIVAN HONORED BY MRGC FOR SECOND TIME THIS YEAR
Utah State senior Sofi Sullivan was tabbed the co-Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference (MRGC) Beam Specialist of the Week following her performance against BYU on Jan. 27, at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. It marked Sullivan's second weekly conference honor this year and the seventh of her career.

Sullivan tied for first on beam with a season-high 9.925 to help Utah State notch its highest score of the season in a 196.650-195.900 loss to the Cougars in front of 2,817 fans at the Spectrum. The 9.925 is tied for ninth all-time in school history. She now has 11 career titles, including six on beam, which is tied for 11th all-time in school history on the event.

The native of Manhattan Beach, California, earned her first co- MRGC Beam Specialist of the Week honor of the season after helping the Aggies to a third-place finish at the Rio Tinto Best of Utah Meet on Jan. 13. Sullivan was also tabbed the Aggies' MVP of the meet as she tied for fourth on beam with a 9.900. 

AGGIES IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS 
Utah State is ranked No. 40 in the country in Week 4 of the Road to Nationals rankings with an average team score of 195.042. The Aggies also rank 32nd on floor (49.025), 38th on beam (48.733), 39th on bars (48.683) and 46th on vault (48.600). Individually, junior Brianna Brooks is tied for 84th nationally on bars (9.842) and tied for 95th in the all-around (38.575). Seniors Sofi Sullivan and Ariel Toomey are tied for 25th on beam (9.862) and tied for 87th on floor (9.850), respectively.

BROOKS AN ALL-AROUND GYMNAST 
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). One week later in the Aggies' home opener against BYU on Jan. 27, Brooks won her first-ever all-around title with a 38.350 as she tied for ninth on vault (9.700), tied for second on bars (9.875), placed 10th on beam (9.750) and finished 12th on floor (9.025).

REACHING NEW HEIGHTS 
In Utah State's Jan. 27 outing against BYU, eight different gymnasts set or tied nine career-best marks in the meet. Sophomore Dani Kirstine tied for second on bars and placed fourth on beam with identical career-best scores of 9.875. Senior Ariel Toomey captured her first-ever title as she tied for first on floor with a personal-best 9.875. Sophomore Amari Evans tied for fourth on vault with a career-high 9.750, while junior Jenna Eagles tied for ninth on the event with a personal-best-matching 9.700. Senior Lexi Aragon placed eighth on beam with a career-high-tying 9.800. On floor, senior Alivia Ostendorf tied for fourth as she matched her career high with a 9.850, freshman Marley Peterson tied for seventh with a career-best-tying 9.800 and sophomore Payton Gatzlaff placed 11th with a personal-best 9.750.