PROVO, Utah – No. 21 BYU gymnastics took second place with an overall score of 196.500 against Penn State (196.675), Utah State (195.725) and Texas Woman’s (194.925) in the senior night meet on Friday at the Smith Fieldhouse.
“Hats off to Penn State, they did a great job,” BYU head coach Guard Young said. “We experimented with a new lineup on vault and they came through for us. We also had our highest score on bars in a long time. Then we had a great solid finish on floor.”
The Cougars earned their second highest uneven bars score in program history with a 49.425, including career-high scores from Shannon Hortman Evans and Abby Boden of 9.950 and 9.900, respectively. Freshman Jordan Danbury earned a team-high 9.850 on vault in her first collegiate performance.
Seniors Mackenzie Douglas, Kyleigh Greenlief, Brittni Hawes and Jill van Mierlo were all honored following the meet.
“Senior night is always special. It’s the last time they’re going to be in here competing for BYU,” Young said. “I couldn’t be happier with our senior class this year and the leadership they provide both in the gym, outside of the gym and in life. They have bright futures.”
BYU started the night on vault, matching its season-high 49.050 on the event. Behind Danbury’s 9.850, van Mierlo earned a 9.825 while both Avery Bennett and Abby Boden received scores of 9.800. At the end of the first rotation, Penn State was in first with a 49.200, followed by the Cougars’ 49.050, Utah State’s 48.575 and Texas Woman's' 48.475.
On uneven bars, BYU earned a 49.425, the second highest score in program history, and took the lead with a 98.475. Evans and Boden recorded career-high scores of 9.950 and 9.900, respectively. Brittni Hawes added a 9.900 while van Mierlo scored a season-high 9.850. Penn State moved to second (98.250) while Utah State (97.600) and Texas Woman’s (97.250) stayed in third and fourth, respectively.
Boden led the Cougars with a 9.825 on beam in the third rotation en route to an event score of 48.850. Briana Pearson, Hannah Miller and Natasha Trejo Marsh all received a 9.800. BYU maintained its lead at the end of the rotation with a 147.425, followed by Penn State’s 147.200, Utah State’s 146.675 and Texas Woman's' 146.000.
In the fourth and final rotation, the Cougars posted a 49.175 on floor. Evans earned a 9.925 on floor while Greenlief and van Mierlo followed with scores of 9.850 and 9.825, respectively. A perfect 10.0 from Penn State’s Lauren Bridgens on bars lifted the Nittany Lions to first place.
The Cougars will compete against No. 9 Washington and No. 14 Boise State next week in Seattle. The meet is scheduled to take place on Thursday, March 15 at 6 p.m. PDT, 7 p.m. MDT. Live stats and live streaming will be available.