Athletics

Utah State Gymnastics Returns Home to Face BYU Friday, Feb. 3

FRIDAY’S MEET
• Utah State (4-2, 1-0 MRGC) returns home following a two-meet road swing when it hosts in- state rival BYU (2-4, 0-2) in a Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference dual meet on Friday, Feb. 3, at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The event begins at 7 p.m. and will be streamed live at http://www. themw.com/page/watch-live. Additionally, live scores will be available online at www.utahstateag- gies.com/livestats/w-gym/20170203.html. Fans can also follow the Utah State gymnastics social media outlets for meet updates.

• The Aggies are attempting to set a home attendance record against the Cougars. The current top mark of 6,255 was set on March 12, 1994, against Utah.

• A big focus for Friday's meet is on the fans. The first 100 students will receive a free gymnastics T-shirt. It is also Fairy Tale Night and children are encouraged to dress up as their favorite fairy tale character - those who dress up have the opportunity to get a free light-up tiara. Furthermore, kids will have the opportunity to get their picture taken with Big Blue on the concourse.

• Utah State and BYU will be competing against one another for the 120th time on Friday in what is the Aggies' oldest rivalry. The Cougars lead the all-time series 72-46-1, but USU has won five of the last six, including a 195.300-195.200 victory at BYU on Jan. 20. It was the Aggies' fourth consecutive win in Provo.

UTAH STATE AGAINST BYU
Utah State is 46-72-1 all-time against BYU, including 23-22 at home, 10-31-1 on the road and 13-19 at a neutral site. However, the Aggies have won seven of the last nine meetings between the two schools, including four straight in Provo.

SCOUTING THE COUGARS
BYU is 2-4 overall and 0-2 in Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference action following a 196.400-193.525 defeat at the hands of Boise State in the Gem State Invitational on Jan. 27 at CenturyLink Arena in Boise, Idaho.

The Cougars, who recorded a season-high score of 195.200 in their first meeting against Utah State, have lost three consecutive dual meets heading into Friday's competition against the Aggies.

BYU is led by Jill Van Mierlo, who ranks 68th nationally and 13th in the North Central Region in the all-around with an average score of 38.775, including a season-high 38.975. Jesse Westergard ranks 41st nationally on bars with an average of 9.833, including a season-high 9.900.

Guard Young is in his second season as head coach of the Cougars. He is 7-20 overall. BYU took third at the MRGC Championships and advanced to the NCAA Regional Championships a year ago, finishing sixth with a 194.075 in Minneapolis, Minn.

UTAH STATE ON FEB. 3
Utah State is 4-3 all-time on Feb. 3, including 0-1 at home, 1-2 on the road and 3-0 at a neutral site. Friday will be just the second time the Aggies and Cougars have met on this date as USU beat BYU 125.350- 125.000 during the 1979 campaign.

CHASING 500
Utah State needs just one more victory to record its 500th win in school history. The Aggies are currently 499-582-2 and already own wins over then-No. 16 North Carolina State, in-state rival BYU, Bowling Green and Texas Woman's this year. USU of officially began competing in 1978 and beat all eight teams it faced in its first competition, the Air Force-hosted Rocky Mountain Open on Jan. 9. In fact, the Aggies posted victories over the first 14 opponents they faced and 27 of the first 28.

THE RANKINGS
Utah State enters Friday's meet against New Hampshire ranked 35th nationally and eighth in the North Central Region with an average team score of 194.094. As a team, the Aggies are 31st in the nation on vault (48.669), 38th on bars (48.544), 42nd on beam (48.281) and tied for 39th on floor (48.600). Individually, sophomore Madison Ward is tied for 37th nationally on floor with a 9.862 average and high of 9.900 (1/20 at BYU and 1/29 at New Hampshire).

BYU is ranked 32nd in the nation and seventh in the North Central Region with an average team score of 194.281. The Cougars are 35th nationally on vault (48.644), 14th on bars (48.944), 37th on beam (48.356) and 47th on floor (48.413). 

Aggie fans can follow the Utah State athletic program at twitter.com/USUAthletics or on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics.


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