BYU gymnast Raquel Willman competes on the bars during a meet against Utah State at the Smith Fieldhouse.
BYU women's gymnastics placed second in the Texas Quad Meet on Saturday competing against the Texas Woman's University Pioneers, Arizona Wildcats and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
The first event for the Cougars was beam. This event set the team back in the rankings as the Cougars scored a 47.225 due to a few falls. Before the meet, Madeline Nilsson suffered an injury in vault warm-ups but decided to compete in the first event despite the injury. Megan Bain had two excellent runs, scoring a 9.85 and 9.75 to lead the team. The Wildcats scored particularly well on beam, with a team score of 49.000.
'We came back from our first event mishap and did really well,' BYU head coach Brad Cattermole said. 'It was an off-night on beam, but we came back without any mistakes.'
Eliane Kulczyk replaced Nilsson due to her injuries on the next three events. Kulczyk scored a 9.875 for her vault routine, still falling short of Arizona's best vault score of 9.925. Makenzie Johnson also scored well for the Cougars on vault with a 9.800.
Megan Bain scored highest for the Cougars on floor with a 9.800. Sarah Wensel also competed well for BYU, scoring a 9.775. These scores for BYU were unable to match the scores of the Wildcats, with scores of 9.900 and three scores in the 9.800s. The Wildcats had the top overall score for floor, despite BYU's efforts.
On the final event of bars, Raquel Willman and Haylee Rollins tied with a 9.825. Their scores helped BYU take the first-place spot in the event. Willman also took third in the all-around competition with a final score of 38.925.
'It was a good meet in terms of several outstanding performances despite Madeline getting hurt,' Cattermole said. 'We are hanging in there.'
Arizona took first place in this meet with a 195.800, taking the top event scores in three of the four rotations. BYU came in second with a 193.450, and the top individual score in the other rotation. Texas Woman's came in third with a 191.475 and Wisconsin-Whitewater took fourth place with a 185.900.
The Arizona Wildcats were the competitors to beat in the quad match-up on Saturday. BYU lost to the Wildcats last season 196.275-195.525. The Wildcats have looked extremely confident in the 2013 preseason competitions. The Cougars hope to face the Wildcats next season without injuries or illness for a closer meet.
BYU returns to the Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday for a meet against Boise State.