Gymnastics holds first official practice of the 2020 season

PROVO, Utah –The BYU gymnastics team held its first official practice of the 2020 season on Monday in the Smith Fieldhouse. 

While the team members trained throughout the summer on their own timetable, gymnastics head coach Guard Young is now able to guide a structured practice. 

“There’s a couple of key things that we do once practice officially starts, like a structured warmup,” Young said. “It seems to give a better feel to the gym and to the practice because we get to start together.”

For the months leading up to the first home meet of the season on Jan. 6, Young and his staff will help the gymnasts solidify routines and compete to earn a spot in the lineup. 

“We’re working on getting all of their summer upgrades put into sequences and transitioning from skills landed on softer mats to the actual hard ground,” Young said. “In a couple of weeks, we’re going to be starting some intersquad meets and putting these kids in game day simulations to see who is going to be a starter or a back-up.”

With assignments from her coaches, sophomore Lexi Griffith looks forward to the season with hopes of competing for the first time.

“Personally, I want to compete and make it into the lineups,” Griffith said. “I am working on consistency and staying as healthy as I can.”

The team will host two of the nation's top programs when it starts its home schedule in January. BYU opens the season on Jan. 6 against a Nebraska squad that finished No. 14 last season, before welcoming the 2019 NCAA Championships third-place UCLA Bruins to Provo on Jan. 18. Both teams are making their first visits to the Marriott Center during Young's tenure at BYU. 

“We are excited about our opener against Nebraska, a Big Ten team, and our meet with UCLA will be a highlight." Young said. “We have so many great meets and we'll need a lot of Cougars to come out."