BYU gymnastics earns Senior Night victory over Illinois State and Washington at tri-meet

The Cougars scored a 196.450 to secure victories over Washington (195.800) and Illinois State (192.800) on Friday at the Marriott Center.

“It was an amazing night, great crowd,” head coach Guard Young said. “But we have bigger goals than just winning a gymnastics meet on Senior Night. We are vying for a conference championship and going to make a run at the NCAA Tournament.”

BYU dominated the first rotation with a score of 49.200 on the vault, followed by Washington, finishing with a score of 49.175 on the beam and Illinois State on uneven bars with a score of 47.

Senior Haley Pitou opened up for the Cougars on the vault and rounded out with a score of 9.800. Next on the apparatus was Elease Rollins, finishing with a career-high of 9.850 on the vault. Senior Sadie Miner-Van Tassell earned the highest vault score at the meet with a 9.900.

The Cougars remained in the lead in the second rotation starting off strong on the uneven bars. Pitou broke her career-high in bars with a score of 9.975, earning first place in uneven bars at the meet.

Miner-Van Tassell and junior Anyssa Alvarado each recorded a score of 9.925. BYU wrapped the second rotation up with 99.15 points after scoring 49.250 in bars, followed by Washington (98.22) and Illinois State with a score of 95.2.

“Haley’s been chasing a 10 her whole career and one of the judges gave it to her today, super excited about that,” Young said of Pitou’s performance on bars.

Despite faults in the balance beam rotation, BYU still dominated the tri-meet by the end of the third rotation. Sophomore Lauren Ono tied for third place in the balance beam alongside Washington’s Brenna Brooks and Lauren Thomas.

The BYU lineup for the beam included Pitou finishing up with a score of 9.150, Miner-Van Tassell with a 9.77, and junior Sophia McClelland with a 9.57. Allix Mason rounded out her performance with a solid 9.800 and Rollins closed out the rotation for the Cougars with a score of 9.625 on the beam.

BYU brought the heat to the floor routine with an energetic performance in the fourth rotation, finishing with a score of 49.200.

Lindsey Hunter opened up the floor exercise with a score of 9.750 followed by senior Abby Beeston with a 9.825. Sydney Benson continued next in the line up recording a score of 9.725.

Miner-Van Tassell made a flawless finish on the floor for a career-high score of 9.925, tying for first place on floor with senior Brittany Vitkauskas and Illinois State’s Jaye Mack.

Miner-Van Tassell ended Senior Night as the best all-round of the meet with a score of 39.525

“We are really excited for the next phase of their lives,” Young said. “They’ve maximized every moment they’ve had here at BYU and we’ll definitely miss them but we are excited for what’s in store for them moving forward.”