By Ashli Hansen
Having two meets in three days took its toll on the BYU gymnastics team Monday night, March 11 when it fell to the Boise State Broncos.
Fatigue played a big role in a meet that saw the Cougars count three falls to end with a 194.3. The Broncos scored a 195.3
“If there was a mistake it was probably mine in scheduling too many meets too close together,” head coach Brad Cattermole said.
The Cougars started slowly, counting two falls on bars. They scored a 47.8 – their lowest output of the season.
“It took the girls awhile to warm up to the meet,” Dawn Cattermole said. “Having one day off was kind of hard on them.”
The team bounced back on vault to score a 49.1, its highest total of the season. It also matched the second highest score for that event in school history.
“It was a great night on vault,” Brad Cattermole said. “The kids went out and really hit in that event.”
Two-time All American Kelly Evanson threw a vault to tie a career high of 9.950. Senior Angie Hickman matched her season high with a 9.875, while Megan Shupe earned a 9.800 for the second meet in a row.
The top scoring Cougar was freshman Jaime Mabray. Mabray struggled in Saturday”s meet but bounced back to win the all-around with a 39.350
“The last couple of meets have been hard for me, so I was happy that I hit my routines, especially beam,” Mabray said.
Mabray nailed her beam routine, scoring a 9.90 for a career high. Evanson also earned a 9.90 on beam, while sophomore Kari Dye added a solid 9.850
“Some of the girls really fought hard and had some good routines,” assistant coach Dawn Catterole said. “But we hoped for better.”
BYU faced the Broncos earlier this year, earning its highest score of the season of 195.775. But the Cougars could not overcome a taxing road schedule.
“We didn”t do a good job of mentally handling back to back meets,” Cattermole said. “Meets are so draining emotionally that its hard to get through sometimes.”
The team looks to regroup in time for its last home meet of the season Friday.
“Now we”ll get a couple days to rest before our next meet. We better hit then or I”m not going to be a happy camper,” Cattermole said.
BYU returns home this Friday, March 15 to face the Thunderbirds of Southern Utah. The meet begins at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.
