Making a return trip to Provo, the SUU gymnastics team recorded the top finish at the Friday night tri-meet, scoring 195.825. The T-birds defeated BYU (195.550) and UC Davis (194.100) to continue their strong start to the season.

The Flippin’ Birds notched the event’s top scores on the floor exercise and uneven bars, while Brinlee Christensen secured the all-around title with a 38.950 score. Ellie Cacciola recorded the top beam score (9.875), and both Taylor Gull and Mia Hampton secured the high mark of 9.900 in the floor exercise.

Rotation One – Beam

Southern Utah began the evening on the beam, securing a score of 48.700. Elliot Bringhurst started the night with a 9.050 before Brinlee Christensen tallied 9.625. Niya Randolph followed with a 9.775 before Ellie Cacciola recorded a team-high 9.875. Riley Miller (9.750) and Maria Ferguson (9.675) then wrapped up the first rotation.

Rotation Two – Floor

The T-birds began the second rotation with a slim lead over UC Davis while trailing the host Cougars. SUU notched a 49.250 on the floor exercise, the team’s highest rotation score of the evening.

Mia Hampton dazzled at the start, scoring an impressive 9.900. Alyssa Fernandez followed with a solid 9.800, with Christensen recording a 9.825. Randolph was next with 9.800 before Cacciola added 9.825 and Taylor Gull totaled a season-high 9.900 for the Flippin’ Birds.

Rotation Three – Vault

SUU would head to the vault for the third rotation, securing a 48.825 score. Cacciola started with 9.725, while Mackenzie Kelly and Hampton followed with scores of 9.750 and 9.775, respectively. Trista Goodman then posted a 9.775 before Randolph (9.800) and Christensen (9.700) finished up on the vault for the T-birds.

Rotation Four – Uneven Bars

Southern Utah moved to the uneven bars for the final rotation with a .400 advantage over the Cougars and Aggies. The T-birds would total 49.050, securing the top spot at the Provo tri-meet.

Christensen began the rotation with 9.800, which Isabella Neff followed with 9.850. Hampton then added a 9.825 before Goodman recorded a 9.775 score. Randolph stumbled to 9.175 before Ferguson recorded a 9.800, securing the first-place finish and a final score of 195.825.

Up next

The Flippin’ Birds will make their season debut in front of the home crowd at the America First Events Center next.

SUU will face conference opponent Sacramento State on Friday, Feb. 7 at 6:30 p.m. MT, and the meet can be seen via the Overnght streaming service.

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Spencer Rodak
Spencer has always been passionate about sports, growing up playing and following various sports. He ran cross country in high school and began his journey in sports media in 2017 as a journalism intern at The Spectrum & Daily News. Since then, his work has been published in numerous outlets including Deseret News, Standard-Examiner, St. George News, Southern Utah Now, SUU's Thunderground, SB Nation's RSL Soapbox, FanSided's Venom Strikes, fan-insider.com, The Spurs Web, and Iron County Today. Spencer is the founder of Stadium Sportzz and both the Sportzz with Spencer and Mountain States Sports Report podcasts. His experience extends to public address announcing, having first served as the PA announcer for Southern Utah University soccer in 2017 and as a high school sports PA announcer. He is now entering his fourth year as a PA announcer at Utah Tech University, where he also occasionally takes on the role of in-game emcee. Spencer's versatility also extends to radio, where at The Fan Sports Network he produced high school and Utah Tech athletics broadcasts, hosted the weekly Region 9 Football Tailgate Show, and appeared daily on The Drive. Now working towards completing his Bachelor's degree in Media Studies, Spencer was recently named the Sports Director at Utah Tech University's 91.3 The Blaze for the 2024-25 year. He will host a weekly show and serve as a play-by-play broadcaster, continuing his dedication to sports journalism and broadcasting. When he isn’t talking, writing about, or watching sports, Spencer enjoys traveling and spending time with his amazing wife.

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