Utes Knock Off Cougars 197.4-196.025

PROVO -- In BYU's last meet of the regular season, the Utah Utes knocked off the BYU women's gymnastics team 197.400-196.025.

Despite the loss, BYU's head coach Brad Cattermole was satisfied.

"This team has come a long way," Cattermole said. "We had four girls do vaults worth 10.0s tonight. We didn't have any when the season started."

But Cattermole was also less than happy with the falls on bars and beam.

"I would rather have had the girls stay on the equipment than get a good score," he said.

The Cougars performed consistently on vault, scoring a 49.200. Utah scored a 49.475 and placed three gymnastics in the standings. Annabeth Eberle took first with a 9.950, and teammates Veronique Leclerc and Kristen Riffanacht followed behind.

For the most part the bars routines were steady. Junior Brogan Jacobsen hit a career-high bar routine with a 9.900 and junior Kari Lords, who sprained her ankle two weeks ago, stepped up as the last competitor to keep the Cougars in the meet. Her "watered-down" bar routine scored her a 9.650, dropping Jaime Mabray's 9.325. Lindsay Butterfield tied her career-best of 9.900.

Utah's Kim Allan took first on the bars with a 9.950, and teammate Eberle came in second with a 9.925. BYU's Jacobsen and Butterfield, along with Utah's Dominique D'Oliveria tied for third with 9.900.

The beam proved to be a challenge to the Cougars. The first four competitors performed well, but didn't receive high scores. BYU's last two competitors both fell, putting BYU further behind in the competition.

"I thought that we had it on beam," Cattermole said. "I didn't expect our last two girls to fall."

Sophomore Kirsten Pauga placed third on the beam with a 9.850. Utes Melissa Vituj and Eberle took first and second respectively.

After Utah's Annabeth Eberle received a perfect 10.0 on her floor exercise, the Cougars knew they would have to nail their floor routines. Like clockwork, the Cougars rallied together to score a 49.450 on the floor, to pull BYU into the 196 range.

Sophomore Jaime Mabray scored a career-high on the floor, placing her third on the event. Utah's Eberle won the floor competition with her perfect 10.0 and teammate Vituj took second with a 9.975.

Kirsten Pauga placed third in the all-around with a career-high total of 39.375. She received the Cougar Award in recognition of her stellar performance. Utah's Eberle and Vituj took first and second respectively.

The Cougars will now wait to find out whether or not they will go to regionals. Regionals will be held on April 12.

Team ResultsBYU 196.025
Utah 197.4
Individual Results
All Around
1. Annabeth Eberle (Utah)  39.750
2. Melissa Vituj (Utah) 39.625
3. Kirsten Pauga (BYU) 39.375
Vault (BYU 49.2; Utah 49.475)
1. Annabeth Eberle (Utah) 9.950
2. Veronique Leclerc (Utah) 9.925
3. Kristen Riffanacht (Utah) 9.900
Other BYU Scores
Trisha Ashton  9.875
Jaime Mabray 9.875
Kirsten Pauga 9.875
Megan Pessoa 9.8
Lindsay Butterfield 9.775
Meghan Donahue 9.725
Bars (BYU 49.075; Utah 49.525)
1. Kim Allen (Utah) 9.950
2. Annabeth Eberle (Utah) 9.925
3. (tie) Brogan Jacobsen (BYU), Lindsay Butterfield (BYU) and Dominique D'Oliveria (Utah) 9.900
Other BYU Scores
Lisa Willis 9.825
Kirsten Pauga 9.800
Kari Lords  9.650
Jaime Mabray 9.325
Beam (BYU 48.3; Utah 48.8)
1. Melissa Vituj (Utah) 9.9
2. Annabeth Eberle (Utah) 9.875
3. Kirsten Pauga (BYU) 9.850
Other BYU Scores
Lindsay Butterfield 9.8
Meghan Donahue 9.775
Lisa Willis 9.650
Jaime Mabray 9.225
Trisha Ashton 9.175
Floor (BYU 49.450; Utah 49.6)
1. Annabeth Eberle (Utah) 10.0
2. Melissa Vituj (Utah) 9.975
3. Jaime Mabray (BYU) 9.950
Other BYU Scores
Candace Slater 9.9
Lisa Willis 9.875
Lindsay Butterfield 9.875
Kirsten Pauga 9.850
Brogan Jacobsen 9.775