|
Aggies Facing Utes, Thunderbirds Friday In Gymnastics Tri-Meet
Feb. 21, 2008
LOGAN, Utah - Utah State gymnastics will head to Salt Lake City for a Beehive State triangular with No. 2 Utah and Southern Utah on Friday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. at Utah's Huntsman Center. USU, Utah and Southern Utah last met in a triangular meet on Jan. 27, 2006, also hosted by Utah, with the Utes posting a winning score of 197.200, while the Thunderbirds were second (193.175) followed by the Aggies (192.675). Friday's meeting with Southern Utah counts in the Western Athletic Conference standings, where USU is 1-4 and SUU is 3-2. After the Aggies opened the season with five dual meets, this is USU's third multi-team meet in a row after a quad meet at Denver on Feb. 9 with Oklahoma and Air Force before hosting BYU and New Hampshire in a triangular meet this past Friday. In the RQS rankings released this week, the Aggies debuted at No. 29, though they would be ranked No. 38 if all teams had an RQS, including Southern Utah, due to the team's late start during the year as SUU has competed in only five meets this year. A team's RQS is determined by the top three road scores and then the highest scores for a team during the year. The Aggies, who own a 3-7 overall ledger and a 1-4 WAC mark, have a 191.935 RQS team score. USU has a 48.418 RQS on vault, followed by a 48.275 on floor, 47.770 on bars and 47.175 on beam. Individually, freshman Nicole Simoneau has a 9.815 RQS on bars, which presently leads the WAC. Senior Megan Tschida has a 9.785 floor RQS, currently ranking second in the conference. Freshman Jasmine Minion ranks third in the league with a 9.775 RQS on vault and third on floor with a 9.755. Junior Nicki Felley has a 38.385 all-around RQS, good for second in the conference, as well as ranking third on bars with a 9.660 RQS.
Second-ranked Utah is 6-0 on the year after winning at Washington, 197.100-194.675, on Saturday. The Utes tied a season-high on floor with a 49.550, as well as logging 49.275 on vault, 49.225 on bars and 49.050 on beam. Ashley Postell, a senior All-American and the defending NCAA champion on beam, has won all five beam competitions this year. Postell leads the country on beam (9.895 RQS/9.900 avg) as well as ranking seventh on vault (9.875 RQS/9.896 avg). SUU is 5-2 overall and 3-2 in WAC action after losing a pair of road meets, at Sacramento State on Friday (194.675-193.300) and at San Jose State on Saturday (195.325-194.800). Sophomore Elise Wheeler won the all-around on Saturday with a season-high (39.200) as well as tying for first on bars (9.875) and tying for second on vault (9.825). For its next meet, Utah State will head to Salt Lake City for a Beehive State triangular with #2 Utah and #15 Southern Utah on Friday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. at Utah's Huntsman Center. The Aggies return home to host Denver on Friday, Feb. 29 for "Flip & Stick For The Cure Night" to benefit Breast Cancer Awareness. Fans are encouraged to wear pink as a show of support for the brave individuals battling cancer. The first 100 fans wearing pink will receive an official Flip and Stick For A Cure visor sponsored by the Logan Regional Hospital Foundation. All USU home meets begin at 6:30 p.m. 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 or (435) 797-0305 or 1-888-U-STATE-1 (1-888-878-2831). |
