PROVO, Utah – BYU gymnastics posted its third-best score of the season with a 196.100 to finish fourth at the inaugural Mountain Rim Gymnastics Championship meet at the Marriott Center on Saturday.
Denver claimed the MRGC title with a season-high 196.925. Boise State (196.900) took second followed by Southern Utah (196.125), BYU (196.100) and Utah State (196.075).
“I was very pleased with our team, I thought we did very well,” BYU head coach Brad Cattermole said. “The meet was awfully close. It isn’t very often when you get in any meet where all the teams compete well. Nobody did poorly; everybody did well.”
At the end of the meet, the MRGC awards were announced, with Cattermole being named the 2014 MRGC Coach of the Year. Four Cougars earned all-conference honors, including Raquel Willman Hatch (all-around, second team), Makenzie Johnson (floor, first team; all-around, second team), KayCee Gassaway (bars, first team; vault, second team) and Eliane Kulczyk (floor, second team).
Boise State’s Kelsey Morris notched the best all-around score of the championship with a 39.500. BYU’s Hatch took fourth with a 39.300 all-around score, followed closely by sophomore Johnson with a 39.275.
BYU started on the bars, where it notched a score of 49.100. Gassaway tied her career high on bars with a 9.875. She earned the third-best score of the entire meet.
The Cougars competed on the beam next, where Hatch led with a team-high 9.800. Three gymnasts scored a 9.775, including Megan Bain Tidwell, Ashley Follet and Summer Raymond.
Johnson scored a 9.900 on the floor routine for the second consecutive week to lead BYU and recorded the third-best score of the meet. Kulczyk notched a 9.875, followed by Hatch’s 9.825. BYU’s best event score came on the floor with a 49.150.
On vault, Gassaway scored a 9.900, a new career high for the junior. Kulczyk’s 9.875 and Hatch’s 9.825 contributed to a team score of 49.025.
"KayCee did awesome (on vault),” Cattermole said. “We put her up first because she doesn’t make mistakes.”
The NCAA will announce regional qualifiers and locations on Monday.
Click to view 2014 MRGC Results
Mountain Rim Gymnastics Championship Awards and All-Conference Teams
Coach of the Year
Brad Cattermole, BYU
Gymnast of the Year
Ciera Perkins, BSU
Co-Freshmen of the Year
Diana Mejia, BSU
Memory Shettles, SUU
All-Conference Honors
Vault - First Team
Moriah Martin, Denver
Rachel Fielitz, Denver
Ciera Perkins, Boise State
Vault - Second Team
KayCee Gassaway, BYU
Kaitlin Moorhead, Denver
Paige Jones, Utah State
Bars - First Team
Kelsey Morris, Boise State
Ciera Perkins, Boise State
KayCee Gassaway, BYU
Paige Jones, Utah State
Krystine Jacobsen, Boise State
Diana Mejia, Boise State
Beam - First Team
Jorie Hall, Denver
Nina McGee, Denver
Tyly Bozzuto, Southern Utah
Beam - Second Team
Natalie Trejo, Southern Utah
Michelle Yasukochi, Utah State
Kelsey Morris, Boise State
Floor - First Team
Nina McGee, Denver
Ciera Perkins, Boise State
Makenzie Johnson, BYU
Paige Jones, Utah State
Kelsey Morris, Boise State
Floor - Second Team
Eliane Kulczyk, BYU
Ellese Sakai-Hart, Denver
Jorie Hall, Denver
Kaitlin Moorhead, Denver
Sarah Landes, Utah State
Bailey McIntire, Utah State
Amanda Otuafi, Boise State
All-Around - First Team
Kelsey Morris, Boise State
Nina McGee, Denver
Moriah Martin, Denver
All-Around - Second Team
Raquel Willman Hatch, BYU
Makenzie Johnson, BYU
Sarah Landes, Utah State