PROVO— The Blue team edged the White squad in the last rotation to claim a 189.775-189.750 win in BYU's inaugural Blue & White women's gymnastics meet Friday night at the Smith Fieldhouse.

Being an intra-squad meet, each event did not feature a full lineup of six competitors to potentially add to the scoring but BYU gymnastics head coach Guard Young was pleased with the outcome of the inaugural Blue & White meet.

“Overall I’m really pleased with the girls and how they're ready so early,” Young said. “It’s nice to do something like this where they compete for real in front of a crowd. It really felt like a meet today. It was nice to get ready for it and have good performances.”

The first rotation on vault, the Blue team finished with a 47.775 trailing the White team’s 48.200 on bars. Sin To led the Blue team with a 9.750 followed by Éliane Kulczyk’s 9.725. From the White team, Brittni Wilde scored a 9.825 on bars to match her career high.

Kulczyk led the White team in the second rotation on bars with a 9.700. Mikaela Jones and Makenzie Johnson Halliday would both earn a 9.750 on bars for the Blue team to create a three-way tie on bars with To. The second rotation ended with the White team leading the Blue team 96.325-94.300.

In the third rotation, To and Kulczyk helped the Blue team with a 9.725 and 9.675 respectively on beam to close the gap with the White team. Sophomore transfer Mackenzie Douglas scored a 9.850 on floor for the White team, making it the highest score on any event of the night. The Blue team finished its rotation on the beam with a 48.100 while the White team scored 47.125 on floor.

Senior Emily Vidmar took the floor and scored a 9.800 to help the White squad take the lead. Halliday and freshman Natasha Trejo held steady on the beam and finished with 9.775 and 9.625, respectively. After leading the first three rotations, the White team saw the Blue side come out on top.

Halliday had the top score in the all-around with a 38.950 followed by Kulczyk, 38.600, and Trejo, 38.325. 

BYU will start its regular season on Friday, Jan. 8 against Utah. The meet will begin at 6 p.m. MST at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.

PROVO, Utah - The BYU gymnastics team will make its debut in the Blue and White intra-squad meet under the direction of new head coach Guard Young and assistant coaches Natalie Broekman and Brogan Evanson this Friday, Dec. 11 at 6 p.m. MST in the Smith Fieldhouse.

“The intra-squad meet is a great tool to get the girls in a real meet environment,” Young said. “You can hit a routine in the gym in front of your coach, but can you hit it in front of a judge or in front of a crowd? In all intents and purposes, this is a real meet for these girls.”

The 2016 team features 12 returners, four freshmen and one transfer. The gymnasts will be divided into a blue and white team with each team being led by a captain. Éliane Kulczyk will lead the blue team with Jill Van Mierlo, Savanna Maradiaga, Sin To, Emily Vidmar, Brigette Ostrem, Jessie Westergard and Taylor Harward on her team.

The white team will be led by Makenzie Johnson Halliday and will include Mackenzie Douglas, Natasha Trejo, Mikaela Jones, Cheyenne Hill, Kendall Adams, Kyleigh Greenlief, Brittni Wilde and Marielle Mitchell.

“This is a great way to see everyone compete instead of just the six-player line up,” Young said. “We’ll see 12 players on every event. Girls who normally don’t make a line up will have an opportunity to compete and gain experience for next year.”

Last year the Cougars qualified to compete in the NCAA Regionals where they came in sixth place. This year they look to improve as they introduce new gymnasts in Hill, Mitchell, Trejo, Maradiaga and Douglas. Seniors Halliday, Vidmar and Jones will open their last season and look to Young to lead them to a national championship.

“This is the debut of the new team, the new coaching staff and a new style of what’s happening,” Young said. “It’s a new era of BYU gymnastics. We want people leaving the meet entertained. Gymnastics is a sport, but it is also a performance, and we want our ladies to go out and perform for our fans.”

Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. MST and admission will be free to the public.