March 20, 2008

LOGAN, Utah - Utah State (5-13, 2-5 WAC) returns to the friendly confines of the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum for the Aggies' home and regular-season finale on Friday, March 21, taking on Southern Utah (9-5-1, 5-2 WAC), in a gymnastics dual meet at 6:30 p.m. Friday is "Senior Night" as the Aggies will honor their four seniors: Megan Tschida, Katie Omann, Kelly Patterson and Ana Rickard-Whitfield, after the meet.

"I'm just going to go out there and give it all I have because this is our last home meet and ten years from now I'm going to look back and think, `did I give it all and give it my best?' and I want to be able to say, `yes I did,' and I'm going to want to be happy with it," Tschida said. "It's going to be a fun meet, it's going to be competitive but I hope we do great."

Gymnastics tickets are available through the USU Ticket Office at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, online at www.UtahStateAggies.com and clicking on "tickets" in left column, or by calling or (435) 797-0305.

Fans that can't make the meet can follow with live stats, available through Utah State's web site: http://utahstateaggies.cstv.com/livestats/w-gym/20080321.htm. The link will only work after the start of the meet.

Gymnastics fans can also watch Friday's meet live via the internet through UtahState.tv, available through www.UtahStateAggies.com, the official web site of USU athletics.

"Friday is going to be an exciting, emotional night," USU head coach Ray Corn said. "We will be honoring four seniors, who have been a major part of our program all this time and they've been workhorses. I think that they know that these days, since there is no professional gymnastics, can never, ever, be repeated again. We've had several alums that have come back and have given the advice to cherish these moments because you won't be able to relive them again. So I think that they will be going through a lot of emotions with that."

In addition to the emotions of the final home meet of the season, Corn also expressed sanguinity about the importance of Friday's meet since USU is currently ranked No. 41, just out of the top 36 to qualify for regionals, something that has become old hat for the Aggies.

"There is also an emotion that we've qualified for NCAA Regionals 26 out of 30 years, only four times have we missed it. They don't want to be the fifth one," Corn said. "I'm excited that our last meet of the year is an in-state rival. I think it's going to add a lot of flavor in a lot of different directions to this competition. We need to go in there with an attitude that anything less than performing at our very, very best is going to be unacceptable."

Utah State has been performing at its best of late, as the Aggies' three top scores of the season have all come in their last three meets, starting with a season-high 194.450 against San Jose State in USU's last home action on March 7.

"Since the San Jose State meet, this team has been improving each and every outing," Corn said. "There are some things that have hurt us with some wobbles, we bobbled on floor at BYU and on beam at Texas Woman's, but nonetheless, in each and every event, we've been improving. In my opinion, since the San Jose State meet, we've been hitting our stride."

Utah State is currently ranked No. 41 in the RQS rankings while Southern Utah is at No. 28.

Southern Utah head coach Scott Bauman is a 1990 Utah State graduate. Bauman, who is in his 17th year at the helm of the Thunderbird program, spent seven years as an undergraduate and graduate assistant coach for Aggie head coach Ray Corn.

First-year Utah State assistant coach Dave Hancock coached Southern Utah senior Erin Morgan and junior Kellie Dangerfield at Missy Marlowe's Gymnastics in Salt Lake City.

The Aggies of Utah State are 5-13 on the year after placing third in a quad meet with No. 23 Kentucky and No. 50 Centenary, hosted by No. 37 Texas Woman's. The Aggies ended with 193.900 points, finishing behind meet-winner Kentucky's 195.200 and runner-up Texas Woman's with 194.200, but ahead of Centenary's 192.025.

USU has a team total 193.05 RQS, which ranks sixth in the WAC and eighth in the North Central region. The Aggies are second in the WAC and seventh in the region on floor with a 48.760 RQS, as well as a 48.625 on vault (fourth in WAC, seventh in region), 48.440 on bars (fifth in WAC, eighth in region) and 47.740 on beam (sixth in WAC, eighth in region).

Individually, freshman Nicole Simoneau's 9.840 RQS on bars ranks her third in WAC and fourth in the region. Fellow freshman, Jasmine Minion has vaulted up the rankings and is second in the conference and tied for eighth in the region on vault with a 9.840 RQS, as well as a 9.825 RQS on floor which is good for third in the league and 12th in the region. Sophomore Heather Heinrich leads USU on beam with a 9.700 RQS, ranking 16th in the WAC. In the all-around, junior Nicki Felley is eighth in the conference and 16th in the region with a 38.520 RQS.

The 28th-ranked Thunderbirds of SUU are 9-5-1 overall, after tying with BYU on Monday, each scoring 195.000. SUU is 5-2 in WAC action, currently in second-place behind Boise State's 6-2 league ledger.

The Flippin' Birds have a team RQS of 194.48, which ranks second in the WAC and fifth in the North Central region, including 48.670 on vault (third in WAC/fifth in region), 48.905 on bars (second in WAC/third in region), 48.725 on beam (third in WAC/fifth in region) and 48.665 on floor (fourth in WAC/eighth in region).

Individually, sophomore Elise Wheeler has a team-leading 9.815 RQS on vault and a team-best 9.825 RQS on floor, as well as a 39.080 floor RQS which also leads the team. Wheeler adds a 9.795 RQS on bars and a 9.695 beam RQS.

USU has already faced SUU twice this season, losing 196.000-192.250 in a dual on Feb. 4 at Cedar City and finishing behind the T-Birds in a tri-meet with Utah on Feb. 22 at Salt Lake City. The host Utes won the meet with a 197.200 while the Thunderbirds logged a 193.100 and the Aggies finished with a 189.650.

Utah State is 36-21 all-time against Southern Utah, including 21-4 at Logan.

Utah State heads to the Western Athletic Conference Championships on Friday, March 29 at Boise State's Taco Bell Arena, starting at 6 p.m. (MT).