OKLAHOMA CITY – The BYU women’s gymnastics team got off to a fast start but finished in third place with a 194.175 at the Perfect 10 Challenge in Oklahoma City on Friday night.

The Cougars finished behind No. 2 Oklahoma’s 197.450 and No. 16 Boise State’s 195.575. Texas Woman’s scored a 191.425  for a fourth-place finish.

“We have two home meets coming up and we need to push until the end,” head coach Brad Cattermole said. “We scored well on bars and I was happy with that but we just had an off night on beam. We'll need to come home and regroup for the rest of the season now.”

BYU notched a season high on the bars to start the meet with a 49.050. Haylee Rollins tied a season best with a 9.875 and three more Cougars tied or set their career highs.  Eliane Kulczyk scored a 9.825, Sarah Yandow Wensel posted 9.800 and Marguerite Lindstrom recorded a 9.750. Raquel Willman also added a 9.800.

The beam wasn’t as successful for the team with a few miscues. However, freshmen Summer Raymond impressed in her second career routine on the beam with an even better score than her first with a 9.825. Makenzie Johnson picked up a 9.775 and Willman added 9.750 but BYU scored just a 48.000 as a team.

On the floor exercise, the Cougars rebounded with a 48.750. Rollins led with a 9.825 and Wensel and Kulczyk grabbed matching 9.750’s.  Megan Bain added a 9.725 and Willman scored a 9.700.

Wensel and Johnson had BYU’s highest scores on the vault with a pair of 9.775’s. Willman nabbed a 9.725 as the Cougars went on to finish the vault a team score of 48.375 en route to a third-place finish on the night.

Willman finished the all-around competition with a score of 38.975.

BYU returns to the Smith Fieldhouse to host Southern Utah on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 1 p.m. MST.

Complete results

PROVO, Utah – After setting a new season high in back-to-back weeks, the BYU women’s gymnastics team sets out on one of its toughest meets of the year, the Perfect 10 Challenge on Friday at 7 p.m. CST at the Cox Arena and Convention Center in Oklahoma City.

“We are moving along,” head coach Brad Cattermole said. “It’s hard to look back and say you’ve had a perfect meet. There are always things that could be better here and there or things to improve on.”

The Cougars will face off against two top-20 teams in No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 16 Boise State. Texas Woman’s University will also round out the four teams in the quad meet. This will be the third time the team has competed against the Broncos and second against TWU this year.

BYU has topped 195 in consecutive meets for the first time since the end of the 2011 season. The Cougars scored a season-best 195.150 vs. Southeast Missouri State in last week’s meet in Provo.

The young team at the start of the season is growing up fast with freshmen stepping up into big contributors and veterans holding their own.

At the midway point through the season, BYU will be looking to continue to improve on the good scores it has posted to this point now that all the competitors have valuable experience.

“We’ve had six meets now and have six more to go,” Cattermole said. “This is when you want to start peaking so these meets will be really important and we have to hit.”

The Perfect 10 Challenge will be one of the premier events held during the 2013 Bart and Nadia Sports and Health Festival weekend along with the Nadia Comaneci International Invitational and the Bart Conner International Invitational. The Nadia Comaneci International Invitational is a three-day competition that will feature over 800 Level-4 through Level-10 gymnasts. There will also be a special International Elite session on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m., with 24 “open elite” gymnasts from several foreign countries including Romania, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Israel and the U.S.

The meet will begin at 7 p.m. CST in Oklahoma City and fans can follow live results HERE.