BYU Scores Season Low at Kentucky

LEXINGTON -- The 16th-ranked BYU women's gymnastics team scored a season-low 192.475 Friday, losing to the University of Kentucky. The host Wildcats won the meet with a 194.075.

"We just couldn't get anything going tonight," BYU coach Brad Cattermole said. "We had some nice performances but we weren't doing the little things you have to do to score."

With two falls on bars, BYU had to a count an 8.725 on its way to a season-low 47.600. The Cougars improved slightly on vault but still suffered their lowest total of the season on that event, scoring a 47.950. Entering the final two rotations, BYU trailed the Wildcats by more than two full points at 97.900 to 95.550 as Kentucky scored 49.325 on vault and 48.575 on bars.

Even though BYU recorded its third straight season-low event total with numerous wobbles on balance beam, the Cougars made some gains on Kentucky, scoring 48.250 to the Wildcats' 47.350. Kentucky's Melanie Zaharias won the event with a 9.825, but BYU took the next four places, led by junior Kari Lords with a 9.775 effort.

The Cougars had their best performances on the floor exercise despite Lords being unable to compete due to a sore neck. Senior Brooke Haskett again came through for the Cougars, receiving a 9.900 to place second behind Kentucky's Zaharias (9.925). Haskett earlier placed second on bars with a 9.800. BYU's 48.675 on floor was its best score of the night, just being edged by Kentucky's 48.725.

Aronda Primault won the all-around for Kentucky with a 39.050. BYU had two gymnasts compete in all four rotations, with senior Lindsay Butterfield placing third in the all-around (37.550) and sophomore Kirsten Pauga finishing fifth (36.775).

"I thought Kari (Lords) did a nice job on bars -- she hadn't practiced all week and hit a pretty nice routine," Cattermole said. "We have a young team. We'll put this behind us and hopefully do much better next week."

BYU will compete next weekend at the Cat Classic in Columbia, Mo.

Team Results
Kentucky	194.075 
BYU 		192.475	
Individual Results
All-Around
1. Aronda Primault (Kentucky) 39.050
2. Julia Gore (Kentucky) 38.625
3. Lindsay Butterfield (BYU) 37.550
4. Michelle Gales (Kentucky) 37.450
5. Kirsten Pauga (BYU) 36.775
Vault: (Kentucky 49.325; BYU 47.950)
1. Aronda Primault (Kentucky) 9.950
2. Michelle Gales (Kentucky) 9.875
3. (tie) Melanie Zaharias and Kara Prestigiamcom (Kentucky),  9.850
Other BYU vault scores:
Megan Pessoa: 9.750
Meghan Donahue: 9.750
Trisha Ashton: 9.625
Kirsten Pauga: 9.550
Lindsay Butterfield: 9.275
Brogan Jacobsen: 9.250
Uneven Bars: (Kentucky 48.675; BYU 47.600)
1. Julia Gore (Kentucky) 9.875
2. (tie) Brooke Haskett (BYU) and Julie Joy (Kentucky) 9.800
Other BYU bars scores:
Kari Lords: 9.750
Brogan Jacobsen: 9.675
Lindsay Butterfield: 9.650
Lisa Willis: 8.725
Kirsten Pauga: 8.100
Balance Beam: (BYU 48.250; Kentucky 47.350)
1. Melanie Zaharias (Kentucky) 9.825
2. Kari Lords (BYU) 9.775
3. Trisha Ashton (BYU) 9.750
Other BYU beam scores:
Brooke Haskett: 9.675
Kirsten Pauga: 9.675
Lindsay Butterfield: 9.375
Lisa Willis: 9.325
Floor Exercise: (Kentucky 48.725; 48.675)
1. Melanie Zaharias (Kentucky) 9.925
2. Brooke Haskett (BYU) 9.900
3. Krista Prestigiacomo (Kentucky) 9.850
Other BYU scores:
Candace Slater: 9.825
Brogan Jacobsen: 9.800
Lisa Willis: 9.700
Kirsten Pauga: 9.450
Lindsay Butterfield: 9.250

PROVO -- The No. 16 BYU gymnastics team (1-1) will travel to Kentucky this weekend to compete against the Kentucky Wildcats (3-3) on Friday at 7 p.m. EST.

The Cougars are coming off a solid win against Boise State last week with a score of 195.6, with first place finishes in all four events.

Kentucky competed in the Dodge Premier last week, defeating Bowling Green, but falling to Florida and Minnesota with a score of 192.200.

BYU last competed against Kentucky at the Bahama Breeze Invitational last January. BYU came in behind Kentucky 192.450 to 191.650.

The Cougars are excited to compete against Kentucky again and improve their score.

"We are making big improvements all the time," BYU head coach Brad Cattermole said. "We are just excited to get out there and to fight hard."

The Cougars are looking to all-around competitor Lindsay Butterfield and to Kari Lords to lead the team to another high score this week, but each girl is going to have to work out the mistakes in their routines to keep their marks high.

"We are working out some kinks in some routines and upgrading some others," Cattermole said. "We are working hard and coming along great for this point in the season."