BYU Gymnasts Finally Get a Home Meet

PROVO -- Succeeding on the road so far this season, the No. 13 BYU women's gymnastics team will finally get its chance to bring its high-powered show home Friday night. The Cougars will host Boise State and Utah State at the Smith Field House at 7 p.m. in the first home meet of the season.

"We've been anxiously awaiting this for a long time," BYU head coach Brad Cattermole said. "This should be fun having an opportunity to compete in front of the hometown fans."

BYU will face the Aggies for the second time this season and the Broncos for the first time. The Cougars defeated Utah State in Logan in the first meeting, winning the meet 195.425-191.925. At the time, the score was a season high, but BYU eclipsed that mark with a 195.625 in Friday's victory over Southern Utah.

"If there is any concern, it's that we get too excited," Cattermole said. "We just haven't had a home meet to get our feet wet yet."

All-American Kelly Evanson leads the Cougars this season with a 39.300 season high in the all-around. Kari Dye, Jeni Lopez and Jaime Mabray have all contributed with performances in the all-around so far. Cattermole is very impressed with how Mabray, only a freshman, has progressed.

"She's been the most pleasant surprise of the season," Cattermole said. "She just brought a great attitude and is coming on like gangbusters."

The Cougars continue to improve with each meet, notching season-best team scores as they go. Their average score of 195.100 is good enough for No. 13 in the nation and No. 4 in the North Central Region.

Evanson has always led by example, but her and fellow senior Lopez have taken more of a vocal leadership role with this year's team. Brooke Craig and Candace Cosgrave, team captains, also provide BYU with depth in both the lineup and in leadership.

"The team has been a real professional type of team," Cattermole said. "Nobody is way into themselves. Everybody wants to do whatever will help the team be the best it can be."

Boise State currently ranks No. 6 in its West Region, but is coming off its best performance of the season. The Broncos lost to No. 4 Oklahoma, but scored an impressive 193.350. Carla Chambers and Jamie Johns lead the Broncos on the season in the all-around with a 39.100 and 39.075, respectively.

Utah State is in BYU's region, and is currently ranked No. 8. The Aggies, led by long-time coach Ray Corn, bounced back from their loss to the Cougars by performing well against Utah. Utah State lost the meet, but scored a season-best 193.600.

BYU's consistency continues to be a strong point this season. While balance beam was a stumbling block earlier in the season, the Cougars seem to have overcome it. BYU has been able to hit on all four events lately and hope to keep the trend going Friday night.

"This team pretty much expects to do well," Cattermole said. "If someone does a great job, then we just move on to the next one. They're enjoying themselves, enjoying competing and they just do it."

BYU hopes to enjoy the same type of success at home that it has had throughout the season on the road. BYU has won successive meets at Oregon State, the Cat Classic, Utah State and at Southern Utah University.