By Ashli Hansen
The gymnastics team travels to Cedar City on Friday night for yet another road contest.
The trip marks the team''s fifth-straight road meet of the season.
The 13th-ranked Cougars face in-state foe Southern Utah, a team they typically compete well against.
'We''ve got a lot of fans down in Cedar City, so it will be fun,' assistant coach Dawn Cattermole said. 'And we''ve got Utah judges, which always helps.'
The Thunderbirds will host their first home meet of the season against the Cougars. SUU is coming off a season-high of 192.375 at Arizona State.
BYU is coming off a solid meet at Utah State where the Cougars scored their own season-high of 195.425.
As the mid-season mark approaches, the Cougars have added new focus and intensity to their workouts.
'They''ve created a little more urgency with their routines on each event,' Cattermole said.
Sophomore all-arounder Kari Dye attributes the newly found focus to increased trust in each other.
'We''re more serious and focused and we''re working together,' she said. 'We have more confidence in each other now then at the beginning of the year.'
The Cougars have dealt with a host of injuries this season. The intense pounding that gymnasts endure during practice and meets takes its toll, Cattermole said.
'Gymnastics is like football,' he said. 'You ask them, ''Does it hurt?'' but they go ahead and compete anyway.'
Senior Mindi Hilton has several injuries to compete on the uneven bars for the Cougars. Hilton is ranked 13th in the nation in the event.
'Mindi has a sore shoulder and wrist from the surgeries, but she''s doing really well,' Cattermole said. 'There''s nobody out there that doesn''t have something that hurts.'
Despite the injuries, the Cougars have steadily improved in every meet this season.
With each road win at Oregon State, Missouri''s Cat Classic, and Utah State, the Cougars have seen their consistency and confidence grow.
The team has shown progress on bars especially. It counted four falls in its first meet at the Bahamas Invitational. Against Utah State, it counted no falls.
Beam has also progressed well, Cattermole said. He said he is impressed with how the team has stepped up and expects them to do well on the event at SUU.
'They''re working with a new kind of intensity and a new kind of focus on beam,' he said,
Last week at Utah State, the team earned a season-high 195.425.
The Cougars were led by senior Kelly Evanson, freshman Jaime Mabray and Dye. The trio swept the all-around, despite yet another unfriendly crowd.
'We''ve been gone across the country the whole season so far,' head coach Brad Cattermole said. 'It''s been pretty grueling on the kids so far, but I''m really happy with how well we''ve done.'
After so much traveling, the Cougars are ready for a home crowd.
'We''re to the point where we''ve done away meets and we want to come home and have our own crowd yelling at us for a change,' Cattermole said.
BYU will host Boise State and Utah State on February 22 in the Smith Fieldhouse.