Dec. 8, 2008

LOGAN, Utah - Utah State gymnastics held its first official intra-squad Blue-White Exhibition meet on Saturday and first-year head coach Jeff Richards was pleased with the outcome as the Aggies get ready for the 2009 season.

"I felt we had a strong showing," Richards said. "We still have a lot of work to do, but the overall excitement the team showed was incredible. They really got behind each other and cheered for each other."

The White team scored a 141.2, while the Blue team tallied a 135.1. The top three vault scores and the top four scores on bars, beam and floor were used. Junior Heather Heinrich, sophomores Lyndsie Boone, Chelsea Marquardt and Nicole Simoneau, along with redshirt freshman Erica Huelsmann and freshman Brandi Dickson made up the winning White team. The Blue team included senior Nicki Felley, sophomore Jackie Dillon and freshmen Rachel Flessner, Rebecca Holliday, Haley Hogan and Kileigh Peterson.

Heinrich posted 9.6's on both beam and floor, taking high score honors on beam and tying Felley on floor. Heinrich also shared top honors on vault with a 9.7, tying with Dillon, who posted a top score of 9.7 on bars.

Richards singled out the standout performances of Dillon on vault (9.7) and bars (9.7), Huelsmann on floor (9.6) and beam (9.4), Simoneau on vault (9.6) and Dickson on bars (9.5), as well as Heinrich on all four.

"We have been working hard on concentrating on each individual doing their job," Richards said. "If each individual does what they are supposed to, then our team will do well. However, if they worry about each other and the other team, then we will struggle. Our mantra is `do what we do and do it better than anyone else.'"

Utah State will officially commence the 2009 season on Saturday, Jan. 10 at Kentucky.

The Aggies' home-opener is on Friday, Jan. 16, against Central Michigan.

All USU home meets begin at 7 p.m. at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.

Gymnastics tickets are available through the USU Ticket Office at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, online at www.UtahStateAggies.com and clicking on "tickets" in left column, or by calling 1-888-U-STATE-1 or (435) 797-0305.

-USU-