Southern Utah at BYU

Recap

The Big Storyline: BYU took home the win after a stellar beam rotation, resulting in a season high on the event. The Cougars had five scores above a 9.825 leading to a 49.350 event total. Helody Cyrenne had her best night of the season scoring a 9.900 on both bars and beam. Freshman Sophia McClelland made her second lineup appearance with a solid beam set. Southern Utah struggled on vault and were unable to match BYU’s scores throughout the rest of the competition. Karley McClain won her fourth straight all around title and Hannah Nipp returned to the bar lineup. Anyssa Alvarado, Sadie Miner and Haley Pitou were absent from the competition for BYU. Pitou’s absence is related to COVID, according to her Instagram Story. 

Implications: BYU will stay at the top of the MRGC after this competition. However, the battle was close and the competition for the conference title will be a good one as postseason inches closer. Watch out for BYU and Southern Utah to make a jump in the overall rankings as well. These teams have been consistently scoring in the 196 range and could hit 197-plus in the future.

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 15 Southern Utah at  No. 12 BYU 

Why You Should Make Time to Tune in: The top two teams in the MRGC go head-to-head this week with a Friday night matchup. BYU landed ahead of the Thunderbirds at Best of Utah, but both teams have had significant improvements since then. BYU is coming off its first win of the season with season best vault and beam rotations. These events have been the programs’ weak spots early on. Southern Utah had its third straight dual meet win and hit 24 for 24 routines against Boise State. Expect this meet to be one of the closest of the weekend; it may leave us hanging until the last routine to find out the winner. 

Need More Proof?  Southern Utah and BYU have some of the best bars swingers in the country with Shylen Murakami and Mayson Bentley having been highlights for the Thunderbirds so far. Anyssa Alvarado is ranked No. 14 on bars but was absent from last week’s meet. Abby Beeston has also been a key contributor on bars, scoring a 9.900 earlier in the season. Southern Utah’s Karley McClain has won three straight all around titles and is a favorite to take her fourth home this weekend.