Cougars on the road to face Central Michigan

PROVO, Utah – Senior Makenzie Johnson Halliday will sit out of the all-around as BYU women's gymnastics hits the road this week to take on Central Michigan Friday night.

Halliday will still compete in vault and beam, but BYU head coach Guard Young says he wants to give other gymnasts a chance to compete while he rests Halliday. These gymnasts include Jill Van Mierlo in all-around, Kyleigh Greenlief on floor, Savanna Maradiaga on bars and Taylor Harward on beam.

The Cougars fell short in their first meet last week against Utah, 196.175-193.850. Halliday led the Cougars in all-around with a 38.875 and on beam with a 9.825, while Sin To led the team on vault with a 9.775.

Central Michigan won its first two meets with scores of 193.425 and 193.600 against Temple and UW-Eau Claire, UW Whitewater and Winona State, respectively.

“Central Michigan is a very good team,” Young said. “I think they are very comparable to us. I’m looking at it as a potential win and also as a potential loss. The team that will hit and stick more routines will win. If we go out there and miss routines they will beat us, but if we hit our routines and they miss we will beat them.”

The meet will begin at 7 p.m. EST at the McGuirk Arena in Mount Pleasant, Michigan and will be broadcast on ESPN3. Following Central Michigan, the Cougars return to Provo for their home opener on Friday, Jan. 22 in a tri-meet against UC Davis and Boise State at the Smith Fieldhouse.