School Records Fall as Cougars Defeat SUU in Final Home Meet

PROVO -- BYU women's gymnastics head coach Brad Cattermole knew his team had the potential to do something special. On Friday night against Southern Utah, his Cougars proved he was right.

Led by All-American Kelly Evanson's new school record 39.700 in the all-around, the No. 15 Cougars defeated Southern Utah 197.375-195.650. The 197.375 tied the BYU record for overall team score, just one of many records the Cougars set or tied.

"That's a lot more fun when we're doing that instead of falling," Cattermole said. "We've been capable of doing this the last five meets, it's just nice the kids all hit tonight."

Kari Dye nailed her all-around with a score of 39.475, a new career high. Jeni Lopez, who along with Kelly Evanson and Angie Hickman were honored for Senior Night, also set a career high in the all-around with a 39.425. Dye tied the BYU record on floor with a 9.975, and the Cougars broke the floor record with a team score of 49.650.

BYU got things going early by scoring a 49.175 on vault, tied for the school record as a team. Hickman and Evanson led the Cougars in the event on Senior Night by scoring a 9.900. Megan Shupe tied her career high for the third straight meet with a score of 9.800.

On bars, Evanson tied the school record by nailing her routine and scoring a 9.950. Dye broke her career best with a 9.925 and Brooke Craig tied her season high with a score of 9.850. The team bars score of 49.425 tied for second best in BYU history.

What has once been a stumbling block for the Cougars this season, balance beam proved to be no problem for the Cougars. BYU scored a 49.125 on the event, good enough for the fourth-best score in school history. Dye led the Cougars by tying her career high with a 9.925, and Evanson also notched a 9.900 to give the Cougars their best score on the event this season.

The Cougars finished with a flourish on floor, breaking the school record by scoring a 49.650. Craig tied her season best as did Candace Cosgrave. Dye followed those performances by tying the school record with a 9.975. Mabray scored a 9.900, her new career high, and then Lopez scored a 9.950, also tying her career high. Evanson finished it off with a 9.950 to give the Cougars a 197.375 for the second time in history.

"Hopefully, we can use this as a springboard for the Utah meet," Cattermole said.

The Cougars will face the Utes for the second time this season Mar. 23 in Salt Lake City. Following that meet, BYU will head to NCAA Regionals.

Freshman Carly Geronimo led the Thunderbirds with an all-around score of 39.225. Geronimo's best score came on floor where she scored a 9.875.

TEAM SCORES
BYU                     197.375 (Tied School Record)
Southern Utah           195.650
BYU OVERALL RESULTS
All-Around
Kelly Evanson           39.700 (New School Record)
Kari Dye                39.475 (New Career High)
Jeni Lopez              39.425 (New Career High)
Jaime Mabray            38.350
Vault
Kari Dye                9.650
Jeni Lopez              9.800
Megan Shupe             9.800
Jaime Mabray            9.775
Angie Hickman           9.900
Kelly Evanson           9.900
Bars
Jaime Mabray            9.275
Kari Dye                9.925
Brooke Craig            9.850
Lindsay Lines           9.850
Jeni Lopez              9.850
Kelly Evanson           9.950
Beam
Brooke Craig            9.800
Jeni Lopez              9.825
Kari Dye                9.925
Kelly Evanson           9.900
Lindsay Lines           9.675
Jaime Mabray            9.400
Floor Exercise
Brooke Craig            9.850
Candace Cosgrave        9.875
Kari Dye                9.975
Jaime Mabray            9.900
Jeni Lopez              9.950
Kelly Evanson           9.950

PROVO -- After a tough weekend with two meets in three days, the No. 15 BYU women's gymnastics team returns home for its final home meet of the season. The Cougars will compete against Southern Utah Friday at 7 p.m. in the Marriott Center.

In BYU's meet at Southern Utah earlier this season, the Cougars had no problem winning the meet, 195.625-191.900. All-American Kelly Evanson led the Cougars in the meet by winning the all-around with a score of 39.300.

This meet will most likely be completely different, as the Thunderbirds have scored more than 195 in their last two meets. BYU is hoping to really put on a great show in its last home meet.

"It's a meet where we want to do well," BYU head coach Brad Cattermole said. "We haven't really had a meet where we've hit everything and it would be fun to do it in the last home meet."

The Cougars are coming off a tough loss against Boise State Monday night. The Cougars were unable to overcome some falls and competing two times in three days and scored a disappointing 194.800.

Freshman Jaime Mabray was one of BYU's highlights in the loss at Boise State. Mabray, who struggled against Missouri on beam and bars, scored a career-high 39.350 in the all-around.

Another highlight was the Cougars' performance on vault. For the second meet in a row, BYU really hit on vault. BYU scored a 49.100, the second highest score on vault in BYU history. Against Missouri, the Cougars pulled off a 49.025 in vault to start off the meet.

BYU competed against Missouri Saturday night and won the meet, 195.400-193.650. Sophomore Kari Dye scored a career high in the all-around with a 39.375 to join Evanson in leading the Cougars.

Following the home meet against Southern Utah, BYU will only have one more regular season meet. BYU will compete against Utah for the second time this season, this time at the Huntsman Center Mar. 23.

"These last two meets are important," Cattermole said. "If you hit them, it sets yourself up well for Regionals."

BYU is now ranked No. 4 in the North Central region. The scoring of the final two meets will be important for confidence going into the NCAA Regional meet, and the Cougars know they have the potential to score well.

"We have the potential to be great," Cattermole said. "We just haven't lived up to it yet."

BYU is hoping to reverse its fortunes from last season. In the 2001 season, the Cougars broke several team records on the way to a fantastic regular season, but came up short at Regionals. This season, the Cougars haven't broke any team records so far, but hope to make up for that with success at Regionals.

"With good scores at these next two meets, we could move into the top 12 nationally, and that's what we want," Cattermole said. "People are hurting and a little sore, but I think we'll be alright for the next couple of meets and the rest of the season."

Individually, Evanson is currently ranked No. 12 in the national GymInfo rankings. Evanson has nailed her beam routine lately, giving her the potential to score high in any meet.

Friday's meet will be televised by KBYU live on BYU-TV. The meet will be rebroadcast on KBYU (Channel 11) at 11 p.m. the night of the meet.