SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Hitting the road for a two-meet Northern California road trip, the Southern Utah gymnastics team defeated conference foe Sacramento State 196.100-193.575 on Friday night.

Ellie Cacciola and Niya Randolph shined for the Thunderbirds, as Cacciola claimed the top spot on vault (9.875) and beam (9.850), while Randolph secured the all-around title with a score of 39.350 after first place finishes on bars (9.900) and floor (9.875).

First rotation – uneven bars

The T-birds began the night on the bars, totaling a score of 49.025. Brinlee Christensen got things started for SUU, scoring 9.750. Bella Neff (9.725) and Mia Hampton followed (9.800), before Randolph notched a rotation-high 9.900. Maria Ferguson added a 9.850 before Alex Routsis capped the rotation with a 9.700.

Second rotation – vault

The T-birds moved to the vault for the second rotation, with Cacciola leading off with 9.875. Mackenzie Kelly (9.750) and Hampton followed (9.825) before Randolph totaled a 9.800 score. Christensen (9.725) and Taylor Gull (9.675) rounded out the rotation as SUU moved to the third rotation with the lead following a 48.975 team score.

Third rotation – floor exercise

Southern Utah moved to the floor next, notching 49.150. Hampton began the floor exercise with a 9.825 score, which was followed by scores of 9.775 (Alyssa Fernandez) and 9.725 (Christensen). Randolph and Cacciola followed with strong scores of 9.875 and 9.850 respectively, before Gull scored 9.825 to finish the event.

Final rotation – beam

SUU wrapped up the meet on the balance beam, recording a 48.950 score. Randolph began with 9.775, which Christensen followed with a 9.700. Elliot Bringhurst scored a 9.475, before Cacciola dazzled with a rotation-high 9.850. Rylee Miller continued the strong finish to the meet, totaling 9.825 before Ferguson scored a 9.800 to round out the 196.100-193.575 victory.

Up next

Southern Utah faces a tight turnaround for its next meet, as it battles UC Davis on Sunday, March 2.

The meet is slated to begin at 3 p.m. MT and can be seen on the Overnght streaming platform.

Photo courtesy of SUU Athletics.

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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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