Utah State Gymnastics Releases 2008 Schedule

Utah State University gymnastics head coach Ray Corn announced the Aggies' 2008 schedule Tuesday [Sept. 25].

USU, which is entering its third season in the Western Athletic Conference, opens with an exhibition, "Meet The Aggies," before hosting six dates at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum as part of the 13-meet ledger.

 

The schedule features three teams ranked in the Top 10 in last season's final poll, including No. 2 Utah, No. 8 Oklahoma and No. 10 Denver, as well as No. 23 Kentucky, No. 28 BYU, No. 34 Sacramento State and No. 38 Southern Utah.

 

"We continue to schedule as strong of a dual meet schedule as we possibly can," said Corn, who is entering his 31st season at the helm of the Aggie program and is the only head coach in USU's Division I history.

 

"We face five teams who were top 30 finishers in last year's final poll. Certainly, we're also going to be challenged with the strongest field in the WAC across the board. Everyone in the WAC is very talented and from top to bottom it is going to be the strongest the conference has ever been. Certainly our featured meets are going to be our in-state rivals in Utah, BYU and Southern Utah, accompanied with our strong WAC schedule."

 

In addition to the WAC schedule and the regular in-state match-ups, USU is meeting Oklahoma for the first time since 2003 and Kentucky for the first time since 2005.

 

"I think it's great to face Oklahoma and Kentucky. We haven't met them in a long time and it's going to be very nice to meet them on a neutral floor at Denver and Texas Woman's, respectively" Corn said.

 

The Aggies open the year on Jan. 11 at Boise, Idaho, taking on Boise State in a dual. USU returns to Logan for its home-opener on Jan. 18 against Sacramento State, followed by its second meet in as many weeks against Boise State in the Spectrum on Jan. 22. The Aggies close out January action with their first of three road meets, heading to Fullerton, Calif., to tangle with Cal State Fullerton.

 

USU commences February action on Feb. 4, wrapping up WAC duals at Cedar City, Utah against in-state foe Southern Utah. On Feb. 9, the Aggies will be at Denver, Colo., for a quad meet with Oklahoma, Air Force and host Denver.

 

The Aggies return to the friendly confines of the Spectrum, hosting in-state foe BYU on Feb. 15. A week later on Feb. 22, USU tangles with Utah and Southern Utah in an all-Beehive State triangular at Salt Lake City. On Feb. 29, the Aggies host Denver in a dual at the Spectrum.

 

March meets tip off on March 7 with a WAC dual against San Jose State. USU then heads to Provo, Utah to compete against BYU in a dual on March 10. The Aggies will then make their longest regular-season road trip of the season, traveling to Denton, Texas to compete in a quad meet on March 14 with Kentucky, Centenary and host Texas Woman's.

 

Southern Utah visits the Spectrum on March 21, for the Aggies' regular-season finale.

 

The WAC Championships are March 29 at Boise, Idaho. The NCAA Regionals are April 12 and the NCAA National Championships are April 24-26 at Athens, Ga.

 

Utah State finished third at the WAC Championships and sixth at last year's NCAA Regionals, marking the 26th time in the 30 years of USU Gymnastics that the Aggies qualified for postseason competition. The Aggies have seven returning letterwinners as well as eight newcomers on their roster.

 

All USU home meets begin at 6:30 p.m.

 

Gymnastics tickets are available through the USU Ticket Office at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, online at www.UtahStateAggies.com and clicking on "tickets" in left column, or by calling 1-888-U-STATE-1 or (435) 797-0305.