BYU kicks off its season tonight, and the debut of freshman Scarlett Sonnenberg, a former five-star recruit and 2025 DP national all-around champion, should be a highlight. She leads a robust 12-member freshman class that looks poised to make an impact. That may be most immediately apparent on vault, where Sonnenberg, Emilie Chandler, and Ellie Ermisch all bring 10.000-start value vaults.
The Cougars will see action again this week when they compete at the Best of Utah meet on Monday. A two-meet weekend can always pose a challenge to a team’s stamina, but will a doubleheader in the first week of the season influence lineup decisions?
Meanwhile, Oregon State already has a meet under its belt, as it started its 2026 campaign last weekend at the Best of the West meet. Despite finishing fourth in Seattle, the Beavers put up a solid performance that left them less than half a point out of second place. They were led by junior Sophia Esposito, who paced the team with three scores of 9.800 or higher, including its highest scores on vault and floor. Junior Taylor DeVries led the team on bars, posting a 9.925 and sharing the event title with UCLA senior Jordan Chiles and California freshman Tonya Paulsson.
The meet is streaming live on ESPN+ at 9 p.m. ET, and live scores are available on Virtius.
Heads up that several other meets on ESPN have had technical difficulties, so this one may too. I’m currently not seeing anything on the stream.
I missed most of the first rotation, but was able to access the stream through the Hulu app, so try that if you have a Hulu subscription.
Rotation 1: BYU VT, Oregon State UB
DeVries (Oregon State) – Short on the first handstand. Misses her connection from toe on to Maloney. Pak salto is good. She overbalances a handstand and comes off. Double layout dismount with a small step back. 9.175
AFTER ONE: BYU 48.875, Oregon State 48.700
Rotation 2: Oregon State VT, BYU UB
Crabb (Oregon State) – FTY with good distance but significant pike down. Medium hop back on landing. 9.675
Kirkham (BYU) – Toe on to Maloney to bail to handstand. Dismounts with a double layout and nearly sticks, tiny shuffle in place. 9.800
Rude (Oregon State) – Front handspring onto the board, front tuck off, and she didn’t have enough height and sits down. 8.875
Glazier (BYU) – Jaeger caught close and kills her rhythm a bit. Double layout dismount with a bounce in place. 9.675
Miller (Oregon State) – Yurchenko full-on back tuck, landed low and underrotated, big step to the side. 9.675
Silva (BYU) – Her Jaeger is great, plenty of distance. Clear hip to Pak salto. Full-twisting double tuck with another allllmost stick, tiny hop back. 9.850
Buckner (Oregon State) – FTY with good distance but significant pike down. Big step back on the landing. 9.800
Eaquinto (BYU) – Toe on to Maloney to Pak salto. Double layout with a small shuffle on the landing. 9.850
Esposito (Oregon State) – Best FTY in the lineup so far, medium hop back on the landing. 9.800
Jorgenson (BYU) – Ray is good. Toe on to bail to handstand with good position. Double layout with a small hop back. 9.875
Richardson (Oregon State) – Goes for the 1.5 Yurchenko and falls, bit short of rotation. She takes a moment to get up but doesn’t seem to be injured. 8.950
Alvarado (BYU) – Toe on to Maloney – with leg separation throughout – to bail to handstand. Good rhythm in the connections. Double layout with a small hop forward. 9.775
Marchal (Oregon State) – exhibition – FTY with a lot of pike down and a medium hop forward. 9.600
Thomas (BYU) – exhibition – Toe on to Geinger – she does a good job of keeping legs together on the catch. Toe on to bail to handstand. Giant full to double back with a small bounce up in place.
AFTER TWO: BYU 98.025, Oregon State 96.600
Quite a rough vault rotation for the Beavers, coming on the heels of DeVries’ disappointing miss on bars. Good they were able to put up a full lineup, as they have been struggling with their depth, but that rotation was a momentum killer. They’ll want to bounce back with hit floor routines. BYU will be very pleased with a strong bars rotation that broke 49. Notable that Sonnenberg didn’t compete bars, even in exhibition.
Rotation 3: BYU BB, Oregon State FX
Silva (BYU) – Hitchkick to front aerial with a tiny bobble at the end. She repeats but has a bigger wobble with leg up. She moves on to the full turn – no acro series. Beat jump to side aerial and she falls. Split jump to straddle 1/4 – split jump was under split. BHS gainer full with a tiny hop backwards. 8.625
Kaloudis (Oregon State) – Front tuck through to double pike, good height, bounce/slide back. Switch side 1/2 to straddle jump. Front layout to front full with a bit of an awkward landing and lack of control. 9.725
Smith (BYU) – Bit of a wait as judges are conferencing about Silva’s score. BHS layout stepout is super solid. She looks quite confident up there. Cat leap to side aerial with a small wobble. Split jump to split 3/4 with a lean back. Cartwheel gainer full with a small hop back. 9.650
Vargas (Oregon State) – Double pike with a good landing. Switch side 1/2 to straddle jump. FHS front full front layout, not much distance on any of those. She does another leap series but I didn’t catch the specific skills. 9.825
Jorgensen (BYU) – BHS BHS layout stepout is smooth. A small wobble on her full turn. Beat jump to straddle half, split looked under. 1.5 twist dismount with a big hop forward. 9.750
Richardson (Oregon State) – FHS front double full, but a coach was blocking our view of the landing – seemed to be decent. Switch leap full to straddle jump, the first element might have been a bit under rotation. Front full front layout is landed well. 9.750
Hoke (BYU) – BHS layout stepout. Split jump to straddle half. Side aerial is solid. 1.5 twist dismount with a medium hop forward. 9.825
Miller (Oregon State) – Front tuck through to double back, good landing. Switch leap, I believe it was a full, but rotation was murky. Switch leap 1/2 to Popa. 1.5 twist to front layout, layout doesn’t rise. 9.875
Sonnenberg (BYU) – BHS layout stepout. Beat jump to straddle half, she drops her shoulder and wobbles with a foot off the beam. Cat leap to aerial, small check with hips turned to the side. BHS gainer full is stuck. 9.625
Marchal (Oregon State) – Double back with a small step forward. Switch side 1/2 to straddle jump. Ah, missed her second leap series. 1.5 twist to front layout. 9.850
PSA that the ESPN stream is working now.
Anderson-Broekman (BYU) – BHS layout stepout. Beat jump to straddle half. Cat leap to side aerial. BHS to gainer full with a tiny bounce up in place. 9.875
Esposito (Oregon State) – Front tuck through to double pike. Her weight is on her back foot, but she keeps her front foot down. Switch side to split jump full. Front layout to Rudi with a slide back. 9.900
Alvarado (BYU) – exhibition – BHS layout stepout with a small wobble. Hitchkick to side somi with straight legs. Switch leap to…a Chen! aka back pike swingdown. BHS gainer full is stuck.
Crabb (Oregon State) – exhibition – FHS to double front full with a small crossover step. Switch side 1/2 to straddle jump. 1.5 twist to underrotated front tuck which appeared to be intended as a front layout.
AFTER THREE: BYU 146.750, Oregon State 145.800
Oregon State recovered very well with a strong floor rotation. Esposito’s 9.900 in the anchor position was the first 9.900+ score of the meet. BYU kept everyone on the beam after the opening fall, but there were wobbles going around. Strong performances from Hoke and Andersen-Broekman helped steady the rotation. Oregon State has to go to beam, however, that was their highest scoring event last week, so they should feel confident.
Rotation 4: Oregon State BB, BYU FX
Esposito (Oregon State) – Front aerial with a small balance check. BHS layout stepout is right on. Standing switch split jump to beat jump. Double twist dismount with a medium hop back. 9.650
Hoke (BYU) – Switch side 1/2 that wasn’t quite fully rotated. Unusually, she takes quite a bit of time with a leap and choreography before she tumbles. Round off directly to double tuck is short and she takes a medium step forward with chest down. Switch leap 1/2 to Popa to wolf full. Front layout to front full. 9.650
Buckner (Oregon State) – BHS layout stepout with a turn to the side and bend at the hips, but quickly pulls it back. Split jump to double stag ring, small check on landing. Side aerial with a ghost of a balance check. BHS to 1.5 twist and tries to stick, but has to take a medium step forward. 9.500
Stephenson (BYU) – Tour jete 1/2. Front layout to Rudi. Switch leap full to split jump full. 1.5 twist to front tuck – she didn’t have the height and sits down the tuck. Looks like she didn’t quite finish her landing before the second element, which threw her off. 8.900
Cheek (Oregon State) – BHS layout stepout with a small wobble that turns into a bigger one with a foot off the beam.Front aerial to split jump is solid. Switch leap and she dips her shoulder to the side. She backs up to repeat switch leap to split jump. BHS gainer full is stuck. 9.650
Andersen-Broekman (BYU) – Switch ring 1/2. Starting your floor routine with a leap is now officially a trend at BYU. Rudi to straddle jump with good control. Switch ring to switch half. 1.5 twist to front layout that she has to tuck a bit to get around. 9.700
Heather (Oregon State) – Front toss to Korbut. Wolf turn. Switch 1/2. Switch leap to split jump, perhaps under split a bit on those elements. Gainer pike with a small step back and some direction. Strong routine. 9.725
Sonnenberg (BYU) – Double back with good control on the landing. Switch side 1/2 to Popa that was underrotated. 1.5 twist to front layout done cleanly. 9.875
Letzsch (Oregon State) – Front aerial to back tuck, landed with chest down and an adjustment of one foot. Split jump to split ring jump. Gainer front full off is stuck. She gets the chainsaw! 9.800
Silva (BYU) – Rudi with a bounce backwards. 1.5 twist to front full with a larger step out of it. Switch leap full to wolf full. Double back is a bit underrotated and she takes a small step forward. 9.800
Weaver (Oregon State) – Double wolf turn is very smooth. BHS layout stepout. Switch leap to split jump. She’s moving very confidently. Front aerial is right on. 1.5 twist dismount with a medium hop forward. 9.850
Eaquinto (BYU) – A pause while the judges conference. Not sure why since Silva’s score is already posted. Here goes Eaquinto to close the meet. Double pike with very good control. She has a fun baseball-themed routine. Switch ring 1/2 to wolf full. 1.5 twist to front layout. 9.900
Kaloudis (Oregon State) – exhibition – switch leap to split jump to straddle 1/4. BHS to layout stepout with knees. Side aerial and has to turn to the side and bend all the way over at the hips. 1.5 twist with a small hop backward.
Jorgensen (BYU) – exhibition – Front double full that wasn’t fully rotated. Her routine is an Abba medley, and I love an Abba routine, sorry not sorry. Rudi for her second pass. Cat leap to switch 1/2 to wolf full. 1.5 twist to front layout that looked underrotated.
FINAL: BYU 195.675, Oregon State 194.525
A solid opening score for BYU. Beam was the biggest struggle tonight, but those wobbles should improve as the season goes on. Sonnenberg had a steady debut but has the potential for higher scores on beam and vault. Oregon State showed a lot of resilience, putting up two strong rotations after a sub-48 vault performance. The back half of the beam lineup impressed with confident and solid routines. A lack of depth on vault will continue to be a major issue, but they should be pleased with how they were able to manage the ups and downs of the meet.
VT: Eaquinto (BYU), 9.825
UB: Jorgensen (BYU), 9.875
BB: Andersen-Broekman (BYU), 9.875
FX: Eaquinto (BYU) and Esposito (Oregon State), 9.900
AA: Jorgensen (BYU), 39.125
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Live blog by Diana Scroggins
