Season-best 195.875 tops Southern Utah for second time

CEDAR CITY, Utah – Megan Bain tied a career high with a 9.900 on the balance beam as BYU scored a season-best 195.875 to top Southern Utah’s 195.425 in Centrum Arena on Friday night.

The Cougars’ season high is their best score since the 2008 season and the sixth time BYU has topped 195 in 2013. BYU hasn’t topped 195 six times in a season since 2005 when the Cougars finished 11^th at the NCAA Championships.

"The girls did well. I think we might have even performed better than our score shows but all said and done that’s our season high score and that’s a good thing," head coach Brad Cattermole said. "They did a really good job on beam. On the whole it was a really good meet."

BYU edged Southern Utah for the second time this season, giving the Cougars a season sweep of the Thunderbirds.

"Hopefully now we are in a position to not have to worry about Regionals," Cattermole said. "Now we can go back to the gym and train and hopefully top this score for next week."

BYU started the meet on bars, scoring a 48.950, including Haylee Rollins tying a season high with a 9.875.  All of the Cougar gymnasts scored above a 9.750 with a 9.800 from Bain, a 9.775 from Raquel Willman and 9.750’s from Makenzie Johnson, Eliane Kulczyk and Marguerite Lindstrom. Johnson and Lindstrom tied career highs with their scores.

On the vault, BYU rode the momentum from a solid bars score to its best score of the season with a 49.125. Johnson scored a personal-best 9.875 and Willman tied her’s with a 9.850. Rollins notched a 9.825 and Kulczyk posted a 9.800 to give the Cougars four gymnasts with a 9.800 or better.

Bain, Willman and Johnson led the team on the floor with matching scores of 9.775. Rollins scored a 9.750, Kulczyk added a 9.725 and Jordan Schult picked up a 9.700 in her best floor score of the year. The Cougars managed a 48.800 to head into the final rotation.

Three Cougars tied career highs on the beam, led by Bain’s 9.900. Summer Raymond and Ashley Follett also matched personal bests with a 9.825 and 9.775, respectively. BYU went on the score a 49.000 on the final event.

BYU scored well in the all-around competition with Bain taking the top mark with a personal-best 39.250. Johnson also had her best score with a 39.150 and Willman matched her with a 39.150 of her own to finish tied for third place.

Just one regular season meet remains as the Cougars will head to a tri-meet on Friday, March 15 at 7 p.m. PST in Seattle to match up against the University of Washington and Seattle Pacific.

For complete results, visit www.suutbirds.com.