Cougars fall to Wolfpack in season opener

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With its first meet down and plenty more to go, the women’s gymnastics team looks ahead to a promising season after losing 194.050-190.875 to North Carolina State on Saturday.

Competing against a strong NC State team that barely lost to nationally third-ranked Florida the week before, BYU put up a good fight. North Carolina State also spent much of last season ranked in the top 25.

The Cougars’ best event by far was the vault, with four of the women scoring 9.725 or higher. Sophomore Megan Bain led the team with a solid performance, earning herself a score of 9.800. The difference in team scores for the vault ended up being only 0.15.

Raquel Willman, another sophomore, also competed well on vault, scoring a 9.775. Willman also recorded a 9.700 on beam.

In a news release from earlier this month, BYU head coach Brad Cattermole even said that vault might become the team’s strongest event as the season progresses.

Bain performed consistently throughout the night for the Cougars, earning a score of 9.750 on the balance beam and a score of 9.725 on floor. She was the highest scoring Cougar in each of her events that night.

Despite the loss, Cattermole is not worried about the team’s performance throughout the rest of the season.

“We had some strong performances tonight but there are some things we need to fix,” Cattermole said in a news release. “The good news is that this is not like football where one loss kills you.”

Since this was only the first meet of the 2012 season, there is plenty of time for improvement. Junior Sarah Yandow is really looking forward to just doing better than last year. She competed on vault and bars this past Saturday but hopes to eventually compete on floor.

Other notable performers were senior Natalie Pickard, who scored a 9.750 on the uneven bars, and sophomore KayCee Gassaway, who scored a 9.700.

Besides consistency, the team is focusing on remaining positive. Yandow just really wants the team “to be the best that we can be.”

The BYU women’s gymnastics team next competes away against Southern Utah on Friday and then away against Utah on Jan. 27. The first home meet of the season is against Boise State on Feb. 4.

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