Utah State Gymnastics Returns Home for Tri-Meet
Utah State gymnastics is set for its second home meet of the season, as it hosts No. 12 Boise State and UC Davis. (photo from Athletics website)
No. 12 Boise State and UC Davis at Utah State
Dee Glen Smith Spectrum (10,270)
Logan, Utah
Friday, January 30, 2015 - 7 p.m. (MT)
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME — Utah State gymnastics is set for its second home meet of the season. This season was the first time since 2011 that the Aggie gymnasts opened the season at home. Utah State also has home meets against Seattle Pacific (Feb. 6), Southern Utah (Feb. 20) and BYU (Mar. 13).
HURD NIGHT — Utah State gymnastics has a special theme for four of the five home meets, including Friday’s “HURD Night.” There will be free pizza, activities and prizes available for students. The next planned theme is “Greek Night/Alumni Night” for the home meet against Seattle Pacific Feb. 6.
TUNING IN — Friday’s meet will be streamed live at utahstateaggies.tv at no cost for fans. Additionally, live scores will be available at www.utahstateaggies.com/livestats/w-gym/20140130.html. Links to both will be posted on the Utah State Athletics website on Friday. Fans can also follow the Utah State gymnastics social media outlets for meet updates.
BEAMING WITH PRIDE — Utah State recorded a 49.275 on beam in its last meet against BYU, good for the third highest beam score in school history. The Aggies were led by senior Sarah Landes and junior McKinzey Martinez who both won the event with a 9.875.
SCOUTING THE BRONCOS — The No. 12 Boise State Broncos are coming off a Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference win over Southern Utah, 196.725-195.750. Boise State’s score was the ninth highest team score in the school’s history. The Broncos were led by reigning MRGC Specialist of the Week, Ciera Perkins, who scored a 9.925 on vault and a 9.850 on bars. Before Perkins, Maddie Krentz was named the Specialist of the Week after also recording a 9.925 on vault. The Broncos’ average score of 195.625 ties them with Auburn for No. 12. The Broncos excell on vault, averaging a 49.225, good for seventh best in the country. BSU also averages a 49.075 on bars, good for eighth, and a 48.838 on beam, good for 11th and a 48.488 on floor, good for 40th.
The Broncos are coached by Tina Bird and Neil Resnick. Co-head coaches Bird and Resnick are entering their eighth season at the helm of the Boise State gymnastics team. Under the direction of Bird and Resnick, the Broncos have gone 132-46 (.742) and have finished in the nation’s top-25 all six seasons, including a 13th-place finish in 2011.
HISTORY AGAINST THE BRONCOS — Utah State holds a 54-34 edge in the all-time series against Boise State, including a 26-8 mark at home. Last year, the two teams met a quad-meet in Corvallis, Ore., with Oregon State and Seattle Pacific. Utah State came in third with a 194.025, just behind Boise State’s 196.000. The two teams also met at the MRGC championships in Provo, where USU took fifth with a 196.075, while BSU took second with a 196.900.
SCOUTING UC DAVIS — The Aggies are coming off a tough loss to in-state rivals Sacramento State, 194.925-194.800, despite putting up season-highs on bars (48.800), balance beam (48.975) and total team score (194.925). UC Davis is led by Tiana Montell, who won the balance beam title (9.800) against Sacramento State and Lisa Wiktorski, who tied for the event win on bars (9.850). The Aggies are ranked 37th in the country with a 194.031 average. UC Davis is 39th on vault with a 48.594 average, 36th on bars with a 48.531 average, 27th on beam with a 48.569 average and 46th on floor with a 48.363 average.
The Aggies are coached by John Lavallee. In eight seasons at the Aggie helm, he has earned Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Coach of the Year five times. In his first seven, Lavallee had guided nine student-athletes to 14 individual at-large berths in the NCAA West Regional. His program captured five MPSF team championships, including four straight from 2010 to 2013.
HISTORY AGAINST THE (OTHER) AGGIES — UC Davis holds a slight, 2-1 series edge over USU, however Utah State is 1-0 at home. The two teams met last season in a quad-meet in Davis, Calif., with San José State and Stanford. USU took fourth with a 194.400, while UC Davis took second with a 195.875.
AGGIES-AGGIES CONNECTION — Current Utah State assistant coach Andi Dolinsky was a gymnast at UC Davis during her collegiate career. She attended and competed at UC Davis from 2004-09 and was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Gymnast of the Year in both 2007 and 2009. She graduated from UC Davis in 2009 with an English degree.
LAST TIME OUT — Behind a historically strong beam score in the final rotation, Utah State gymnastics (2-1, 1-1 MRGC) captured a 195.500-195.300 win against BYU (3-2, 0-1 MRGC) in Provo on Friday night [Jan. 23, 2015]. For Utah State, it was its first win against BYU in Provo since 1999.
Utah State notched a 48.850 on vault, a 48.575 on uneven bars, a 49.275 on beam, which is good for the third-best team score on the beam in school history, and a 48.800 on floor for a final of 195.500. BYU recorded a 49.050 on vault, a 48.850 on uneven bars, a 48.175 on beam and a 49.225 on floor for their score of 195.300.
Junior McKinzey Martinez won the all-around for Utah State with a career-high score of 39.250 (vault: 9.850, bars: 9.775, beam: 9.875, floor: 9.750), while senior Sarah Landes recorded a 39.075 to place fourth (vault: 9.800, bars: 9.725, beam: 9.875, floor: 9.675). Sophomore Bailey McIntire claimed fifth in the all-around with a 39.000 (vault: 9.725, bars: 9.725, beam: 9.700, floor: 9.850).
UTAH STATE IN THE RANKINGS — Utah State is currently ranked No. 29 in the nation with a 194.667 average team score. USU averages 48.833 on vault, good for 27th in the nation, a 48.375 on bars, good for 40th, a 48.725 on beam, good for 19th, and a 48.733 on floor, good for 29th. Individually, junior McKinzey Martinez ranks 27th in the nation in the all-around with a 39.163 average. Sophomore Charly Belliston ranks 33rd on beam with a 9.825 average, while sophomor Bailey McIntire is ranked 28th on floor with a 9.858 average.
Read much more in the full meet notes at the Athletics website.
Meet Notes: No. 12 Boise State 
Additional Aggie sports news is available at the Athletics website.
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