CEDAR CITY, Utah — Following seven new career highs, the BYU women’s gymnastics team fell to No. 22 Southern Utah 196.925-196.475 on Friday evening.
BYU gymnasts earned the highest score on three of the four events in the America First Event Center. Freshman Kylie Eaquinto earned the highest score on vault with a 9.900, Lindsey Hunter notched the top bars score with a 9.925, and Mina Margraf was the top scorer on beam with a 9.925.
The Cougars have now earned final scores above 196 two meets in a row, both being on the road.
BYU started its night on the uneven bars. Freshman Jayda Lealaogata made her collegiate debut as a Cougar on the apparatus, notching a score of 9.675. Anna Bramblett put up her new career high on the bars with a 9.900 in the middle of the rotation. Hunter also notched a new career-high score of 9.925, followed by a 9.800 by Anyssa Alvarado to round out the first rotation.
With a combined team score of 48.975, BYU went into rotation two ahead of SUU’s 48.900.
The Cougars continued to build on their momentum in the second rotation as they soared on vault. Freshman Madison Raesly-Patton started off strong for BYU with a career-high score of 9.800. She was followed by two new season-highs for Sydney Benson (9.875) and Rebekah Ripley (9.825).
Eaquinto notched a 9.900, a new career high and the highest vault score for the Cougars so far this season. BYU earned a team score of 49.225 on vault, the highest on the apparatus this season, to keep them ahead of SUU 48.200-48.150.
The Cougars moved to the floor in the third rotation. Sophie Dudley notched a 9.800, followed by a 9.825 for Heidi Schooley to tie her career-high on the apparatus. Senior Elease Rollins earned a new career-high score of 9.875 for the Cougars, followed by a 9.750 by Rebekah Ripley.
With six solid performances on the balance beam and a team score of 49.275, the SUU Thunderbirds took the lead 147.425-147.200.
BYU ended the night on the balance beam, with a strong start from senior Allix Mason with a 9.800. She was followed by Raesly-Patton who notched a new career-high score of 9.875 on the apparatus. Rollins also had a strong performance with a 9.850 on beam for the Cougars.
Margraf posted a new career-high score of 9.925 for the highest beam score in tonight’s competition. With a solid final rotation, the Cougars ended the night with an overall score of 196.475, falling to SUU’s 196.925.
The Cougars are back in the Marriott Center for their next competition on Friday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. MST. The SUU Thunderbirds will travel to Provo as they face BYU for the second week in a row.