LOGAN, Utah – Utah State's gymnastics team begins its 2026 season on Monday, Jan. 12, at the seventh-annual Les Olson IT Best of Utah Meet. The quad meet between Utah, BYU, Southern Utah and USU will take place at 7 p.m., at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah.
Utah State will begin the meet on vault and end on floor. BYU starts on floor; SUU begins on bars; Utah opens on beam.
The podium event will be streamed live on BYUtv and ESPN+ and live scoring will be available online at virti.us. Aggie fans can also follow the USU gymnastics social media outlets for meet updates.
Meet Information
Les Olson IT Best of Utah Meet – Utah, BYU, Southern Utah, Utah State
Date: Monday, Jan. 12, 2026
March In: 7 p.m.
Site: West Valley City, Utah
Venue: Maverik Center
Tickets: Purchase Here
Live Stream: BYUtv | ESPN+
Live Scoring: Virti.us
Head Coach Kristin White
"We are excited to start our season at the Les Wilson IT Best of Utah. This is always an exciting and talent packed competition. We will have several new routines breaking into our lineups this year. We look forward to our fans bringing the energy and helping us get the year started."
Utah State Notes
Utah State is picked to finish second in the Mountain West according to the preseason coaches' poll. Boise State is the preseason favorite to win the MW as the Broncos received two first-place votes and 27 points. USU, the reigning MW Champions, received one first-place vote and 24 points, while San José State was picked third with 21 points. Air Force received 12 votes.
Utah State is ranked 33rd nationally in the preseason Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association Poll.
Utah State returns nine letterwinners and 12 total gymnasts from last year's team that won the 2025 Mountain West Championship, its seventh conference title in program history, and qualified for NCAA Regionals for the 28th time.
Among those returning for Utah State include a trio of first-team All-Mountain West performers in senior Avery Bibbey (bars), junior Nyla Morabito (vault, floor), and junior Sydney Jelen (beam). Four more returners earned second-team All-MW a year ago in junior Isabella Vater (floor), and sophomores Kaylie Medrano (vault), Olivia Orengo (floor) and Lundyn VanderToolen (bars). Also returning is fifth-year senior Amari Evans, senior Marley Peterson, senior Chelsea Southam, junior Mya Witte and junior Hattie Wright.
Utah State welcomes six newcomers in freshmen Anabelle Dewey (Mount Juliet, Tenn.), Mara Gruber (Arden Hills, Mich.), Brylea Johnson (Plymouth, Minn.), Charley Laufer (Grand Rapids, Mich.), Alianna Valdez (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and Sienna Yelle (Scottsdale, Ariz.).
Scouting the Competition
Utah (2-3) is ranked fifth in the preseason Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association Poll. Utah scored a 196.625 in its season opener as it defeated No. 15 Minnesota (195.475) and No. 22 Iowa (194.825). The Red Rocks then scored a 195.900 this past weekend as it lost to No. 1 Oklahoma (197.500), No. 2 LSU (197.500) and No. 4 UCLA (197.000).
BYU (1-0) is ranked 30th in the preseason Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association Poll. The Cougars posted a 195.675-194.525 home win against Oregon State this past weekend.
Southern Utah (1-0) is ranked 29th in the preseason Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association Poll. The Thunderbirds posted a 195.675-194.300 home win against Boise State this past weekend.
Series History
Utah State is 53-93-1 all-time against BYU, 57-63 all-time against Southern Utah, and 3-98 all-time against Utah.
Best of Utah Meet History
Utah State finished third at last year's Best of Utah Meet with a 196.000. USU was fourth in 2024 (193.600), third in 2023 (195.800), second in 2022 (195.875), third in 2021 (194.350) and fourth in 2020 (194.150).
Next Up
Utah State begins its home season by hosting Southern Utah in a dual meet on Saturday, Jan. 17, at noon.
Tickets
Fans can purchase tickets for the 2026 Utah State gymnastics season here.
Follow
For more information on the Utah State gymnastics program, follow the Aggies on X, Facebook and on Instagram.
