Strong Veteran Leadership Not Enough For Cougars

PROVO -- The BYU women’s gymnastics team fell to two of the Nation’s best gymnastics teams in a tri-meet that took place in Iowa on Friday. No. 17 Michigan won the meet with a score of 196.000 while Iowa State came in second scoring 195.625. BYU came in third with 192.050.

“I think we are moving in the right direction,” BYU head coach Brad Cattermole said after the meet. “We just aren’t doing the little things that great teams do in our meets so we are trying to find things to do in order to calm nerves before the meets.”

The Cougars were once again led by their veteran gymnasts on each event with seniors posting the team high score on each event. Freshman Haylee Rollins was able to tie Danielle Goldman for the team high on the floor exercise with a 9.725.

BYU began the meet with a shaky performance on the beam and continued to struggle in the second rotation. However, to the credit of a resilient squad, whose diligence has already been tested previously, they were able to compose themselves and finish stronger than they started.

The coaching staff remains optimistic despite the early struggles.

“We are still trying to find the right line-up on each event,” said Cattermole. “But we have some individuals who are performing well and we have yet to perform to our capabilities. I think by the end of the season we will be a very good team.”

The Cougars will return to Provo to host Denver and Utah State in the Smith Fieldhouse at 7 p.m. on Friday. Tickets can be purchased by clicking here.