BYU gymnastics heads to Alaska on Saturday

PROVO, Utah – The BYU women’s gymnastics team will travel to Alaska this weekend to take on the University of Alaska Anchorage at the Alaska Airlines Center.

“We don't look at the opponent we are going up against," head coach Guard Young said. "That doesn't change our mindset. Instead we are going to focus on hitting and sticking and that will lead us to putting up bigger numbers and seeing our final score climb higher and higher."

The Cougars are coming off a tough loss against the Boise State Broncos in last week’s Gem State Invitational. BYU scored a 195.100 to Boise’s 196.400. Seven gymnasts including Makenzie Johnson Halliday, Emily Vidmar and Natasha Trejo set career or season highs Friday night, while Mackenzie Douglas and Halliday earned independent titles on vault and beam, respectively.

“We struggled last week against Boise with our start,” Young said. “We want to start with fire, so we’re addressing that in practice and getting some energy in the gym so hopefully that carries over to the meet.”

The Seawolves competed in their first meet of the season two weeks ago against the Bowling Green Falcons in Ohio. UAA scored a 191.500 to Bowling Green’s 194.075 while posting one of the top balance beam scores in its program history and seting a program record for a road opener. The Seawolves had a bye last weekend and will take on BYU as their home opener.

The meet will begin at 7 p.m. AKST on Saturday at the Alaska Airlines Center. A live video feed and live stats will be available at www.goseawolves.com.