The Southern Utah gymnastics team is headed back to Provo, facing off against BYU and UC Davis in a tri-meet on Friday, Jan. 31.
The meet will begin at 7 p.m. MT and can be seen on ESPN+. Live stats are available on virti.us.
Last time out
SUU is coming off a second-place finish at the annual Best of Utah meet. The T-birds totaled a season-high score of 196.175, defeating BYU and Utah State but falling to the University of Utah. The highlight of the night came from senior Ellie Cacciola, who finished tied for first place in the floor routine with a 9.925. Niya Randolph led SUU in the all-around with a season-high of 39.275 – good for fourth place – and both Mackenzie Kelly and Brinlee Christensen notched third-place scores of 9.850 on the vault.
Two Thunderbirds claim weekly accolades
The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation announced its weekly gymnastics honors, and two Southern Utah gymnasts were rewarded for their recent Week 4 performance.
Ellie Cacciola was named the MPSF Specialist of the Week after finishing with the top score on the floor routine (9.925), while Niya Randolph was named the conference Gymnast of the Week. Randolph competed in all four events, finishing fourth in the all-around with a score of 39.275.
The Competition
BYU
Hosting the Friday night tri-meet, the Cougars are coming off a season-best home meet score of 195.325 against Southern Utah on Friday, Jan. 17. The Cougars most recently competed in the Best of Utah Meet on Jan. 20, scoring 195.750, good for a fourth-place finish.
UC Davis
A member of the MPSF, the Aggies finished fourth place in a quad meet at San Jose State last weekend. Keanna Abraham was the top performer for UC Davis, tying for first on the floor (9.825) and the vault (9.875).
In the Rankings
Following a solid showing at the Best of Utah meet and a season-high score, the Flippin’ Birds have moved up to the No. 29 spot in the latest NCAA Gymnastics rankings. The top 36 teams at the end of each season qualify for the NCAA Regionals.
All-time, the T-birds have qualified for the NCAA Regionals 19 times, including each of the last 11 seasons (2013-19, 2021-24). Last season, SUU claimed the MPSF title, defeating San Jose State in the NCAA Regional First Round, 195.525-195.500. The Thunderbirds then scored 196.475 in the regional semifinal, finishing fourth behind Cal, Stanford, and Auburn.
Photo courtesy of SUU Athletics
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