PROVO -- The BYU gymnastics team bid farewell to two seniors Friday night as Lisa Willis and Kacie Capra-Callens competed in the final home meet of their careers, helping No. 24 BYU record a team score of 194.600 against No. 6 Utah, who posted a score of 196.725.
"The senior meet is always exciting," said BYU head coach Brad Cattermole. "This is almost the pinnacle for our seniors. But it's also about the score and about hitting. We can do better than we did tonight."
BYU started the meet with a strong performance on the vault, recording a 48.900. Freshman Kiki Berrett and sophomore Hayley Jensen each tied career highs with scores of 9.725 and 9.8, respectively, while freshman Jenna Kerbis posted a personal-best 9.8. Junior Dayna Smart, ranked No. 29 nationally, notched the high score of the night for the Cougars on the event with a 9.875. The Utes, ranked third in the nation on the uneven bars, were forced to count a fall in the event and completed the first rotation with a score of 48.725.
Utah took over the lead on the next apparatus as the Utes recorded a 49.275 on vault while the Cougars turned in a 48.775 on bars, giving Utah a 98.000-97.675 advantage through two events. Competing for just the fourth time this season on bars, Alethea Boon paced BYU with a 9.8 while Aimee Walker-Pond tallied the second-highest score of her career with a 9.775.
The Cougars looked to rebound on the next rotation as they moved to the balance beam where the team is ranked 20th in the nation. However, the beam proved slippery for BYU, who was forced to count a fall resulting in a score of 47.725. Despite the struggles, Jensen and Smart had solid outings as Jensen set a career high with a score of 9.8, and Smart showed why she is ranked 20th in the nation on the beam with a 9.85. Utah also saw a competitor go down in the third rotation on the floor exercise, but the rest of the Utes turned in strong performances, including a 9.975 from Ashley Postell, to propel the team to a score of 49.300 on the event.
A strong finish on the floor exercise was just what the doctor ordered for the Cougars as they got solid outings from Heidi Poulson, Berrett, Kylee Draper, Smart and Capra-Callens in the final rotation and posted a 49.200. Poulson tied her career high with a 9.85 while Smart once again led BYU with a 9.875. The junior co-captain paced the Cougars in all three events in which she competed and was honored as the Cougar of the Meet.
With regular-season competition completed, BYU will now advance to postseason competition. The NCAA Regional fields will be announced on Monday.
"We're down to the end," said Cattermole. "The finish line is in sight. We'll go and give it our best shot. I think we'll do well at Regionals."
Women's Gymnastics Meet ResultsHost: BYU Cougars
Meet: Utah Utes @ BYU Cougars 20070330 March 30, 2007
Location: MARRIOTT CTR BYU Provo UT 84602 Home Meet
________________________________________
Team Standing Top
Place Team Score
1 UTAH Utes
196.725
2 BYU Cougars
194.600
________________________________________
BYU Cougars Home
Head Coach: Brad CATTERMOLE Top
Gymnast Vault
Bars
Beam
Floor
AllArr
BERRETT, Kiki 9.725 9.825
BOON, Alethea 9.700 9.800 9.300
CAPRA-CALLENS, Kacie 9.750 9.650 9.825
DRAPER, Kylee 9.475 9.825
FISCHER, Brittany 9.000
GALLUP, Kaylee 9.050
JENSEN, Hayley 9.800 9.800
KERBIS, Jenna 9.800
POULSON, Heidi 9.850
POULSON, Mckell 9.750
SMART, Dayna 9.875 9.850 9.875
WALKER-POND, Aimee 9.775
WILLIS, Lisa 9.700 9.125 9.100
Team Totals 48.900 48.775 47.725 49.200 194.600
________________________________________
UTAH Utes
Head Coach: Greg MARSDEN Top
Gymnast Vault
Bars
Beam
Floor
AllArr
BASKETT, Kristina 9.850 9.375 9.850 9.900 38.975
DILUZIO, Annie 9.900 9.850
DUKE, Jessica 9.775
FORD, Nicolle 9.825 9.900 9.925 9.850 39.500
KIM, Nina 9.800 9.850 9.850
POSTELL, Ashley 9.900 9.375 9.975 9.925 39.175
RIZZO, Beth 9.775
SHIRE, Sarah 9.775 9.825
NEFF, Stephanie 9.225
BIJAK, Daria 9.825 9.825
Team Totals 49.275 48.725 49.425 49.300 196.725
________________________________________
Vault Results Top
Place Gymnast Team Score
1 DILUZIO, Annie UTAH Utes 9.900
1 POSTELL, Ashley UTAH Utes 9.900
3 SMART, Dayna BYU Cougars 9.875
4 BASKETT, Kristina UTAH Utes 9.850
5 FORD, Nicolle UTAH Utes 9.825
6 JENSEN, Hayley BYU Cougars 9.800
6 KERBIS, Jenna BYU Cougars 9.800
6 KIM, Nina UTAH Utes 9.800
9 SHIRE, Sarah UTAH Utes 9.775
10 BERRETT, Kiki BYU Cougars 9.725
11 BOON, Alethea BYU Cougars 9.700
12 FISCHER, Brittany BYU Cougars 9.000
________________________________________
Uneven Parallel Bars Results Top
Place Gymnast Team Score
1 FORD, Nicolle UTAH Utes 9.900
2 KIM, Nina UTAH Utes 9.850
3 BIJAK, Daria UTAH Utes 9.825
4 BOON, Alethea BYU Cougars 9.800
5 WALKER-POND, Aimee BYU Cougars 9.775
5 DUKE, Jessica UTAH Utes 9.775
7 POULSON, Mckell BYU Cougars 9.750
7 CAPRA-CALLENS, Kacie BYU Cougars 9.750
9 WILLIS, Lisa BYU Cougars 9.700
10 DRAPER, Kylee BYU Cougars 9.475
11 POSTELL, Ashley UTAH Utes 9.375
11 BASKETT, Kristina UTAH Utes 9.375
________________________________________
Balance Beam Results Top
Place Gymnast Team Score
1 POSTELL, Ashley UTAH Utes 9.975
2 FORD, Nicolle UTAH Utes 9.925
3 SMART, Dayna BYU Cougars 9.850
3 BASKETT, Kristina UTAH Utes 9.850
3 KIM, Nina UTAH Utes 9.850
6 BIJAK, Daria UTAH Utes 9.825
6 SHIRE, Sarah UTAH Utes 9.825
8 JENSEN, Hayley BYU Cougars 9.800
9 CAPRA-CALLENS, Kacie BYU Cougars 9.650
10 BOON, Alethea BYU Cougars 9.300
11 WILLIS, Lisa BYU Cougars 9.125
12 GALLUP, Kaylee BYU Cougars 9.050
________________________________________
Floor Exercise Results Top
Place Gymnast Team Score
1 POSTELL, Ashley UTAH Utes 9.925
2 BASKETT, Kristina UTAH Utes 9.900
3 SMART, Dayna BYU Cougars 9.875
4 POULSON, Heidi BYU Cougars 9.850
4 DILUZIO, Annie UTAH Utes 9.850
4 FORD, Nicolle UTAH Utes 9.850
7 BERRETT, Kiki BYU Cougars 9.825
7 DRAPER, Kylee BYU Cougars 9.825
7 CAPRA-CALLENS, Kacie BYU Cougars 9.825
10 RIZZO, Beth UTAH Utes 9.775
11 NEFF, Stephanie UTAH Utes 9.225
12 WILLIS, Lisa BYU Cougars 9.100
________________________________________
All Around Results Top
Place Gymnast Team Score
1 FORD, Nicolle UTAH Utes 39.500
2 POSTELL, Ashley UTAH Utes 39.175
3 BASKETT, Kristina UTAH Utes 38.975
________________________________________
Meet Judges Top
Vault
Judge 1 Carole BUNGE Brevet
Judge 2 Jenna KARADBIL-LEAVITT National
Uneven Parallel Bars
Judge 1 Wendy ATKINSON Brevet
Judge 2 Donna NICHOLSON Level 10
Balance Beam
Judge 1 Carole BUNGE Brevet
Judge 2 Donna NICHOLSON Level 10
Floor Exercise
Judge 1 Wendy ATKINSON Brevet
Judge 2 Jenna KARADBIL-LEAVITT National
PROVO -- After posting a season-best 195.675 mark in a tri-meet win last week, the No. 24 Cougar gymnasts will look to carry that momentum into Friday's regular-season finale and senior night when they take on No. 6 Utah.
With a spot in the NCAA Regionals firmly in place, BYU is looking to improve its Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) and head into regional competition on a high note. The Cougars currently carry an RQS of 194.775 and are competing with Minnesota, who holds an identical 194.775 RQS, for the fourth spot in the North Central Region. The top six teams will move on to Regionals on April 14.
"It is important for us to score the best we can," BYU coach Brad Cattermole said. "We need to get the best score we can to get the best seeding possible. Having a good team like Utah to compete against brings your scores up. We couldn't ask for a better situation at this point in the season."
BYU moved up two spots in the latest national rankings released by Troester Consulting Monday morning. The Cougars are ranked No. 20 on beam and No. 24 on bars. Dayna Smart is ranked No. 20 on beam and is tied with teammate Alethea Boon for a No. 29 ranking on vault.
BYU tumbled to its best floor score of the season at 49.450 last weekend. Smart recorded the second-highest floor mark in school history at 9.975, while four other gymnasts also notched career-best marks on the event. The Cougars also posted their best bars score of the season (49.000) behind career-high marks from Boon and Kylee Draper.
The national-power Utes are coming into Friday's meet with an RQS of 196.545 and a win over No. 25 Arizona State last week. Utah is ranked No. 3 on bars and and No. 5 on vault. The Utes are led by All-Americans Nicolle Ford, Kristina Baskett and Ashley Postell.
After the meet, seniors Kacie Capra-Callens and Lisa Willis will be honored. The two standouts have left their marks on the BYU program over the last few years. Both are former team captains that have recorded scores that rank among the best in school history. Capra-Callens holds the school's second-highest bars score (9.950), and Willis has the fifth-best floor mark (9.950) in Cougar history.
Start time is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Marriott Center. The meet will be shown live on BYUTV and live stats will be available on the women's gymnastics homepage at www.byucougars.com.