PROVO, Utah - The BYU gymnastics team looks forward to another successful season after earning a No. 33 national rank last year, qualifying to compete at NCAA regionals and achieving the program's highest regional score in 12 years.
The Cougars enter the 2018 season boasting a schedule ranked No. 6 in the nation for schedule strength as head coach Guard Young enters his third year at the helm of the BYU gymnastics program.
“We’re facing some excellent gymnastics teams with a very daunting schedule,” Young said. “That’s going to elevate our gymnastics when our girls are facing these athletes who have been on national levels.”
The 13-meet schedule features five teams who finished the 2017 season in the top 15 nationally: Utah, Washington, Denver, Oregon State and Boise State. The Cougars will compete against four Pac-12 opponents, as well as Penn State from the Big Ten Conference. The Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference championships will take place at Southern Utah University on March 24.
The home schedule provides Cougar fans with six opportunities to watch high-level gymnastics in Provo this season.
“I’m really excited about our home meets. We have some incredible teams coming to Provo this year,” Young said. "We've been working hard the last two years to really strengthen our schedule. We don't see big teams like this at home every year.”
The 2018 team returns four seniors, four juniors and six sophomores. BYU also expects strong performances from the nine true freshmen and one redshirt freshman.
The four seniors, Mackenzie Douglas, Brittni Hawes, Jill van Mierlo and Kyleigh Greenlief were named team captains this season. Douglas was named All-MRGC Co-Vault Champion after scoring a 9.825 at the conference championship. She was also an All-MRGC Vault First-Team selection and collected MRGC Vault and Floor Co-Specialist of the Week honors.
Hawes posted a career-high 9.950 on bars to tie for second in program history on the event. Her top score and additional scores of 9.925 and 9.900 led to three Bars Specialist of the Week honors.
At the conference championship, van Mierlo came in third in the all-around (38.700). She also tied a career-high 9.900 on bars and recorded season highs of 9.900 twice on beam.
A floor specialist, Greenlief set a career-high 9.875 and scores of 9.800 or higher in six-consecutive meets.
Other key returners include 2017 MRGC Freshman of the Year sophomore Shannon Hortman Evans, who looks forward to competing another year at full strength with an upgraded bar routine. She was a three-time MRGC Gymnast of the Week last season and posted career highs of 9.875 on vault, bars and beam with a career-high of 9.900 on floor.
All-MRGC Vault First-Team selection Angel Zhong also returns after earning a 9.800 on the event at the conference championship.
The strength of these returning athletes, combined with the new energy of the freshmen, provides a unique opportunity to build the program's unity and depth.
"We have an exciting freshman class,” Young said. “They all came out early to practice during the summer, so they’ve all been in the gym for extra time.”
This year's newcomers were all on campus for summer term starting back on June 25, and have all been in the gym and working hard. The freshmen posted team-high scores in the first intrasquad meet two weeks ago, showcasing the strength and depth of the gymnastics program this season. Freshman Abbey Miner comes to BYU as the Utah State Champion on vault in 2014 and 2017.
“I think Abbey Miner is someone to really keep an eye on as a freshman," Young said. "She has a huge tumbling pass you won’t want to miss.”
The 2018 gymnastics season begins Jan. 5 at 7 p.m. MDT at the University of Utah with the season home opener against Cal Berkeley on Jan. 12.