WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — The BYU women’s gymnastics team took home a third-place finish in the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad, with a team score of 196.100 Saturday evening.
No. 6 Cal took first with a score of 197.875, followed by No. 14 Michigan State (196.725), No. 19 BYU (196.100) and No. 33 NC State (195.675).
Scoring a 9.850 on beam and a 9.825 on bars, senior Allix Mason earned the BYU MVP in tonight's competition.
BYU opened the competition on the balance beam. Mason started with a score of 9.850. She was followed by a 9.825 by Eliza Millar-Crossman and a team-high 9.900 from beam queen Elease Rollins.
The Cougars finished the first rotation in third with a team score of 49.075, improving upon last week’s beam score by .475.
Freshman Ava Jorgensen opened the second rotation for BYU with her first-ever collegiate floor routine, tallying a 9.750. Three Cougars earned new career highs on floor, with Olivia Matern’s 9.800, Kylie Eaquinto’s 9.850 and Mina Margraf’s 9.800. The Cougars earned a team floor score of 49.075, keeping them in third place as they moved to vault in rotation three.
Jorgensen’s 9.800 started the Cougars off strong on vault. Competing for the first time this season, Melissa Earl scored a 9.750. Sydney Benson led on vault with a 9.875 for the second week in a row on the apparatus. With a 9.800 by Madison Raesly-Patton, BYU’s team vault score was a 49.025.
The Cougars went to the uneven bars for their final rotation of the night, with Mason scoring a 9.825 to open the rotation. Freshman Alilah Alvarado scored a 9.650 in her first collegiate appearance for BYU. Senior bars queen Anyssa Alvarado scored a 9.850, followed by a 9.825 from Anna Bramblett to close out the competition.
With a team score of 196.100, BYU took home a third-place finish, improving on its score from last week by .200.
The Cougs return to the Maverik Center on Monday, Jan. 15 at 4 p.m. for the fifth annual Best of Utah meet, competing against SUU, Utah State and Utah.