PROVO, Utah — Led by four career-high floor routines, the BYU gymnastics team beat Boise State 195.475 - 195.300 in the first home meet of the season.
“First of all, we love being at the Marriott Center in front of BYU fans,” said head coach Guard Young. “The gymnastics is coming. I’m super proud of our girls tonight. Our vaulters did great vaults, our floor routines were on fire and as the bars coach, I’m super happy with them. Our beam team is getting better every week.”
The Cougars started the night on vault. Freshman Kylie Eaquinto led the group on the apparatus with a new career-high score of 9.825. Following rotation one, Boise State was in the lead with a team score of 48.800. BYU was close behind with a score of 48.650.
BYU soared on bars in the second rotation. Senior Allix Mason started off strong for the Cougars with a 9.825, followed by Sydney Benson who also notched a 9.825 for her new career high. Two more solid scores of 9.800 by Eaquinto and Lindsey Hunter followed. Anyssa Alvarado closed out the second rotation with a 9.925, which tied her career high.
With five scores all above 9.8’s on bars, BYU took the lead with a team score of 97.825 to Boise State’s 97.350. The Cougars improved upon their vault score by 0.525 to move ahead of the Broncos.
Despite a fall on beam in the third rotation, the Cougars started strong with Mason’s 9.800, and finished strong with another 9.900 from Elease Rollins. BYU finished the third rotation with a score of 48.400 on the apparatus, the highest beam score so far this season.
The Cougars went to their final rotation ahead of Boise State with a combined score of 146.225, to the Broncos 146.075.
Four new career highs led the charge for BYU on the floor apparatus. Freshman Eliza Millar brought the energy back into the arena with a career-high performance of 9.850 on the floor in the final rotation. Benson followed, notching a new career-high score of 9.900. Heidi Schooley also tallied a new career high with a score of 9.825.
Performing her Barbie-inspired routine for the first time at a home meet, Rebekah Ripley earned a 9.925 for a new career high. With a season-high floor score of 49.250, the Cougars held onto their lead for their first win of the season.
BYU ended the night with a score of 195.475 to Boise State’s 195.300. Alvarado took home the highest bars score with her 9.925, and Ripley notched the highest score on floor with her new career-high score of 9.925.
The Cougars next compete against Utah State on Friday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. MT at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.