CEDAR CITY, Utah – The BYU women’s gymnastics team earned a second-place finish in its final Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference Championship with a score of 196.575. No. 21 Southern Utah took home the crown for the first time in program history with a 196.875 at the America First Event Center.
The Boise State Broncos took third with a 196.000 and the Utah State Aggies rounded out the competition with a team score of 195.825. Senior beam captain Elease Rollins took home the highest score of the night with a 9.975 on the balance beam.
BYU opened its final MRGC Championship with six scores above 9.800 on floor. Sophomore Eliza Millar's energetic floor routine started the night off strong for the Cougars with a score of 9.800. She was followed by a pair of 9.825s from Sydney Benson and Heidi Schooley. Sophie Dudley and Rollins both added 9.850s individually with Rebekah Ripley rounding out the first rotation with a team-high 9.875.
After rotation one, the Cougars held the lead with a 49.225, followed by SUU (49.100), Utah State (48.900) and Boise State (48.775).
BYU soared on vault in the second rotation. Freshman Madison Raesly-Patton started with a 9.800 for the Cougars, followed by a 9.850 from Benson. With a 9.875 by freshman Kylie Eaquinto, BYU ended with a team vault score of 49.050.
With a 49.300 team score on beam in the second rotation, SUU took the lead (98.400). BYU followed close behind with a 98.275, with Boise State and Utah State tied for third with 97.925s, respectively.
The Cougars continued their momentum on the uneven bars in the third rotation. Allix Mason and Benson started off with a pair 9.800s, followed by a 9.875 from Eaquinto to tie her career high on the apparatus. Anna Bramblett finished with a 9.850 as the Cougars ended with a team bars score of 49.125.
SUU held onto its lead through the first three rotations with a 147.575. After another solid rotation, the Cougars held their second-place position with a 147.400, followed by Boise State (147.100) and Utah State (146.850).
The Cougars ended the night on the balance beam. Raesly-Patton got things started for BYU with a 9.800, followed by a 9.850 from sophomore Mina Margraf. Rollins tied her career high on the beam with a 9.975 to complete a team beam score of 49.175, BYU ended the night with a 196.575 for a second-place finish.
After the meet, the Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference honored the top gymnasts in each event for the year.
Below is the list of awards given to BYU gymnasts:
Sydney Benson: 2023 Co-Vault Specialist of the Year
Elease Rollins: Beam Specialist of the Year
Anyssa Alvarado: All-MRGC Second Team Bars
Kylie Eaquinto: Freshman of the Year, All-MRGC First Team Vault
Rollins earned MRGC Beam Specialist of the Year for the second year in a row, with a final NQS score of 9.910. Benson shared Co-Vault Specialist of the Year honors with Boise State’s Emily Lopez after receiving an NQS score of 9.865.
Eaquinto was named to the MRGC First Team for Vault after scoring above a 9.8 on the apparatus in all but one meet this season. She was also named MRGC Freshman of the Year after competing on the vault and uneven bars in every meet.
As the BYU bars captain, Alvarado was named to the MRGC Second Team on Bars after receiving scores above 9.800 in every meet of the 2023 season.
With the conference championships finished, BYU awaits details about regionals.