From Regan Hunsaker, SUU Athletics
OCEANSIDE, California—The Flippin’ Birds battled to a third-place finish at the American Gold Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Classic, scoring a 194.750. Southern Utah finished 0.175 off the leaders from Arizona, while Rutgers also edged out the T-Birds, scoring 194.850. The new HBCU gymnastics program from Wilberforce University came in fourth overall with a score of 180.275.
Sophomore Niya Randolph took home the top spot in the all-around with a score of 39.100, while Sophomore Brinlee Christensen was also a top finisher, tying for third in the all-around with a 39.00. Senior Ellie Cacciola and freshman Mia Hampton tied for the top vault score, each earning a 9.800. Senior Isabella Neff snagged a tie for first place on the bars with a 9.900. Christensen also earned a second-place finish on the beam, scoring 9.875.
Head Coach Scotty Bauman Said
“We started well but some mistakes in the back half of the meet hurt our overall score tonight. Even with those errors, we were still in a position to win this meet. We have a few things to fix, but that is why we compete in these early meets. We want to compete to be the best that we can week in and week out and we will have to work to find that consistency because the skill is there.”
Meet Recap
Vault (48.825)
The Flippin’ Birds started the meet on the vault. Senior Ellie Cacciola led the team off with a great vault that scored 9.800. Sophomore Mackenzie Kelly followed that up with a 9.650 score before freshman Mia Hampton started her T-Bird career with an impressive 9.800. Junior Trista Goodman was up next, flying to a 9.750. Sophomore Niya Randolph added a 9.775 vault, and sophomore Birnlee Christensen wrapped up the rotation with a vault that scored 9.700. Southern Utah was trailing Rutgers following the first rotation.
Bars (49.075)
After the first rotation, the Thunderbirds moved to the bars for rotation two. Christensen would lead off scoring a 9.700. Sophomore Alex Routsis came next, scoring 9.675 before Goodman got the Thunderbirds back on track with a 9.850. Freshman Niya Randolph also dug deep to earn a 9.850. Junior Isabella Neff added an impressive 9.900, bolstering the team’s performance with the top event score of the night for the T-Birds. Hampton concluded the rotation for the Flippin’ Birds with a routine that earned a 9.775, bringing the team total on the bars to 49.075.
Beam (48.575)
Sophomore Elliot Bringhurst started the third rotation for Southern Utah with a 9.750. Sophomore Alyssa Fernandez and Cacciola came next, scoring 9.325 and 9.425, respectively. Randolph posted a well-earned 9.775 before Christensen grabbed the top event score for the team with a 9.875. The final routine for Southern Utah came from sophomore Rylee Miller, who scored 9.750.
Floor (48.275)
Transitioning to the floor for the fourth and final rotation, the Thunderbirds held a slight lead. Hampton started the team off with a 9.500 before Christensen popped off with a 9.725. Cacciola scored a 9.650, and Senior Taylor Gull added a 9.700 in the third and fourth spots for the Flippin’ Birds. Randolph was next, wrapping up the scoring for SUU with a 9.700.
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