BYU gymnastics scored their season best score of 195.875 against the Southern Utah University Thunderbirds.
BYU scored in the 195’s all three meets this week, comprising half of BYU’s 195 scores this season. A 195.875 is BYU’s best score since the 2008 season, forecasting a strong final meet for the Cougars.
“Hopefully now we are in a position to not have to worry about Regionals,” BYU coach Brad Cattermole said. “Now we can go back to the gym and train and hopefully top this score for next week.”
On vault, BYU gymnasts scored above an impressive 9.750. Freshman Makenzie Johnson led both teams with a personal-best of 9.875, as did Raquel Willman with a 9.850. Haylee Rollins and Eliane Kulczyk also scored above a 9.800, giving BYU a lead after the first rotation. Southern Utah only had two scores above a 9.800, one by Jamie Armijo and the other by Brittney Jensen.
The Cougars topped the Thunderbirds on bars by only .025 of a point, after similar scores by both teams. Johnson and Marguerite Lindstrom tied career high scores of 9.750. All other gymnasts scored above a 9.750, with Rollins tying her season best of 9.875. Rollins tied Armijo of the Southern Utah team on this event, with two Thunderbird competitors clenching the second and third high scores. BYU was able to beat Southern Utah on bars due to consistent scores above 9.750.
The score gap between BYU and SUU closed on floor, as Southern Utah outscored BYU. SUU had three gymnasts score above a 9.800, where BYU had none. BYU had three scores of 9.775 by Willman, Megan Bain and Johnson. SUU only led by .175 points on this event, allowing the Cougars to have a chance of winning the meet.
BYU shined in the final event on beam. Sophomore Megan Bain tied her career high score of 9.900, after tearing her Achilles tendon last season. Her 9.900 score was the best of the night for both teams. Summer Raymond scored a personal best of 9.825, the second highest score for the Cougars. BYU went on to score one of its best score of the season on beam, with a 49.000. SUU again fell behind the Cougars with a 48.725, only two scores above a 9.800.
BYU finished the meet against SUU 195.875-195.425. Bain took first in the all-around competition with a 39.250. Johnson and Willman scored third in the all-around both with scores of 39.150. BYU will enter its final meet of the season next Friday in Washington State.
