Emily Vidmar performs on the balance beam in the meet on Jan. 22. BYU lost to Boise State 196.400-195.100 Friday night in Idaho. (Natalie Bothwell)
The BYU women's gymnastics team earned several season and career bests, but still fell short to Boise State 196.400-195.100 in the Gem State Invitational Friday night.
'Our main theme for this meet was to overcome,' head coach Guard Young said. 'We had a lot of sicknesses, so our training wasn't exactly how we wanted to prepare. We were in survival mode, but the girls really overcame that and did a great job tonight.'
The Cougars started the night performing on the uneven bars. Emily Vidmar scored a 9.750 while Eliane Kulczyk and Natasha Trejo added matching season-high scores of 9.800. Mackenzie Douglas contributed her score of 9.675 and Brittni Wilde added a 9.600. The Cougars trailed Boise State after the first rotation, 49.075-48.625.
BYU competed on vault during the second rotation. Mikaela Jones scored a 9.775, Halliday added a 9.800 and Cheyenne Hill contributed a 9.700. Sin To earned a 9.825 and Douglas received a score of 9.850. The Cougars had a running score of 97.575 after two rotations.
The Cougars performed on floor for the third rotation. Douglas scored a 9.675, Trejo a 9.775 and Vidmar a 9.700. Halliday contributed a 9.825 and Kyleigh Greenlief added her season-high 9.500 to the team's score. BYU had a running score of 146.050 heading into the final rotation.
BYU ended the night on the balance beam with all gymnasts earning season or career highs. Trejo and Jones earned matching scores of 9.775, both personal career-highs. Taylor Harward recorded a season-high score with a 9.700. Vidmar kept the trend going with a 9.875, her personal career-high score on the balance beam. Halliday finished the rotation taking first place on the beam and notching a personal career-high with a score of 9.925. The Cougars had a strong push in the final rotation but it wasn't enough to take down the Broncos as they lost 196.400-195.100.
'We started flat, and in an important meet against No. 10 ranked Boise State you can't start flat,' Young said. 'You have to start on fire and instead we finished with fire. It was great to end that way and see our beam team come through, but we have to hit the gym this week and work on starting with fire.'
The Cougars will travel to Anchorage, Alaska to take on the University of Alaska Anchorage on Feb. 6.