On Friday at 7 p.m., Utah State
University gymnasts will wear pink leotards and ribbons to honor those who are
fighting breast cancer at their “Think Pink” meet.
The Aggies will compete
against the No. 18 University of Denver Pioneers at the Dee Glen Smith
Spectrum.
Many of the staff and
gymnasts are excited to support the cause because they have family members who
are cancer survivors. Fans who wear pink to the meet will gain free admission.
“When we’re out there in
pink it’s a reminder of all the amazing women who have fought the battle,” said
Paige Jones, a senior on the team. "Hopefully we’re able to raise that
awareness and encourage women to take action early on.”
Coming off of three road
losses, the Aggies are excited to be back in their home gym for the first of
four meets.
“Every meet we’ve gone to
hasn’t been their best meet, so they’re hungry to have the kind of meet where
they hit every event and keep the energy up,” said Nadalie Walsh, the Aggie’s
head coach.
Denver is coming into Logan
after taking its second loss of the season in a narrow decision against
Southern Utah Friday. Utah State is entering the contest off of a four-meet
road trip, most recently coming in third place at the Oregon State Quad-Meet
that was held Saturday.
USU won its opening meet for
the first time since 2007. The Aggies won their next two meets, giving the team
the best overall record they have had since 1999.
In her first year as the
coach, Walsh has made changes that have proven helpful in leading her team to
victory.
“Positive energy and belief
in our athletes is a big thing,” Walsh said. “It’s about making everybody good,
and everybody has been stepping up to the plate with that.”
Freshman gymnast Bailey
McIntire said Walsh has been a positive influence and has helped keep up team
morale.
“I’ve improved a lot this
year with confidence,” McIntire said. “Nadalie, our coach, has worked with our
whole team on that, so we’ve all gotten a lot better.”
Jones said she loves working
with the coaching staff this year.
“The staff knows each girl
on an individual level and adjusts practices according to each girl,” Jones
said. “They know when to push hard and when to let our bodies rest.”
The Aggies currently average
an overall score of 193.871 while the Pioneers average 195.646.
“I feel like any meet you go
into is anybody’s meet,” Walsh said. “Whoever makes the least amount of
mistakes is going to come out on top and we definitely have the talent and
routines.”
“Every team we go against
wants to be successful and do great things for their program, but we have to go
out on the floor and show that we want it more,” Jones said.
A pep talk is given by Jones
before each meet to get the team focused and ready to perform their best in
each routine.
“I think our team is going
to do awesome,” McIntire said. “We’ve had some really good meets this year and
we’ve also had some disappointing meets. But we’ve worked so hard in the gym
for the last couple of weeks and it’s going to show at our meet on Friday.”
Madison Eves, Emily Duke,
Morgan Klinkowski, Sam Emmett, Alex Bennett and Justin Anderson contributed to
this report.
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