February 21, 2003 Athletics
Story
Keeping
Up with the Aggie Gymnastics Team
Upcoming meets, team bios and current season stats
 THIS
WEEK - Utah State gymnastics (5-5) returns to the Dee
Glen Smith Spectrum on Friday, Feb. 21. The Aggies face Brigham
Young (2-5) at 7 p.m. after two meets on the road.
NEXT WEEK - The Aggies host No. 21 Ohio State
at 7 p.m. in the Nelson Fieldhouse because of the Jamie O'Neal
concert scheduled for the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
LOOKING AT BRIGHAM YOUNG - BYU is 2-5 this
season, with a season-best score of 195.900 coming in a home
loss to Boise State Friday. All-arounder Lindsay Butterfield
led the Cougars with a 39.200, finishing second overall. Head
coach Brad Cattermole is in his 15th season at BYU, and led
his team to a final national ranking last year of 24th. The
Cougars took fourth at the south central regionals in 2002.
USU is 37-46-1 against BYU, and the Aggies are 20-12 all-time
in the Spectrum. Last season, BYU defeated USU in Logan, 195.425-191.925.
The Cougars also won the teams' meeting in Provo, 195.775-192.850.
USU's last win against BYU in Logan came in 2001.
KILPATRICK FINISHES AMONG TOP THREE IN EVERY MEET
- USU senior Nicole Kilpatrick is the only Aggie to record a
top three finish in at least one event of every meet this season.
She was USU's only gymnast to finish among the top three against
No. 4 Utah on Feb. 7.
NELSON SETS ANOTHER USU RECORD - Freshman
Meagan Nelson is the first gymnast in Utah State history to
score more than 39.00 in the all-around in six consecutive meets.
In 1999, Christy Denson competed in the all-around in six of
seven meets, and scored better than 39.00 in all six appearances.
RQS RANKINGS BEGIN NEXT WEEK - Rankings by
Regional Qualifying Scores (RQS) start on Monday, Feb. 24. The
RQS is determined by a team's top six scores, three of which
must be from away meets. The high score is thrown out and the
remaining five are averaged.
CONSISTENT TEAM BARS WORK CONTINUES - Utah
State has scored at least 49.025 on the bars in each of its
last three meets, the first time the Aggies have scored that
well in the event in the last seven years.
IMPRESSIVE FRESHMEN -In USU's six meets this
season, freshmen have accounted for 61 of the 120 scoring routines.
BARR SETS CAREER BESTS - Ashley Barr set two
career bests at the Hearts Invitational at No. 25 NC State Friday,
as she scored 9.850 on bars and 9.775 on floor.
BEST SEASON START IN SEVEN YEARS - As a team,
USU has scored better than 49.000 in three of its first six
meets on bars and floor and in two of the first six meets on
beam. Since 1996, USU put together a multiple team event scores
of better than 49.000 just once - when the Aggies posted two
bars scores above 49.000 in 1998.
AGGIES SET HOME RECORD - USU's 196.150 against
Utah was its best home score ever, and is the second-best score
in USU history.
PARENTI MATCHES FRESHMAN RECORD - Against
Utah, Jessica Parenti became the second freshman ever - and
the second this season - to score better than 39.00 in her all-around
debut. Parenti's 39.275, the 13th-best score in school history,
matched teammate Meagan Nelson's achievement of topping the
39.00 mark in her first all-around competition.
NELSON SETTING FRESHMAN RECORDS... - In her
first six meets, Meagan Nelson has set records for freshmen
performances and is making her mark on the USU record book.
Her 39.500 all-around score against Boise State was the third-highest
overall in school history, and she is the first freshman ever
at Utah State to post 39-plus scores in the all-around in her
first four meets.
...AND ALL-TIME RECORDS, TOO - In addition
to her No. 3 all-around score against Boise State, Meagan Nelson
also posted the No. 2 floor score (9.950), the sixth-best vault
score (9.850) and the eighth-best beam score (9.900) in USU
history.
ROPELATO POSTS PERSONAL BESTS - Rachel Ropelato
had a career night on vault (9.850) and bars (9.800) on Jan.
24. She and teammate Meagan Nelson tied for both the vault title
and for second on the team on bars.
TEAM BEAM WORK SET SIX CAREER BESTS - Utah
State's 49.250 on beam against Boise State on Jan. 24 marked
the first time the Aggies broke 49.000 in the event since March
16, 2001. Each of USU's six beam performers set a career-best
score, ranging from Nicole Kilpatrick's 9.950 to freshman Liesel
Kohler's 9.625.
HEARTS INVITATIONAL RECAP - Utah State finished
second to No. 25 NC State, but defeated William and Mary and
Rhode Island, thanks to two more strong all-around performances
from Meagan Nelson (39.225) and Jessica Parenti (39.075). USU
never trailed in the meet and went into the final rotation with
a .600 lead, but the Aggies had to count two falls on beam.
However, USU won bars, as the Aggies topped the 49.000 mark
on bars for the third consecutive meet (49.100). Additionally,
the team's vault score of 48.725 and floor score of 49.100 are
its second-best of the year in each of those events.
HEAD COACH RAY CORN - Ray Corn (Northern Colorado
'71) is in his 26th year as the Aggies' head coach. Corn's teams
own a 348-216-2 regular-season meet record and have participated
in postseason competition 24 times, including 17 straight trips
to the NCAA Regionals. USU has competed at the national championship
meet five times. Corn was named NCAA Midwest Region Coach of
the Year in 1991, was honored as High Country Athletic Conference
Coach of the Year three times and selected Big West Conference
Coach of the Year in 1994, 1996, 1998 and 2001. Corn's overall
record, including postseason action, currently stands at 406-355-2.
He's assisted by Mark Lee and Ernestine Russell.
A LOOK AT THE 2002-03 AGGIES
ASHLEY BARR - Freshman from Littleton, Colo... Career
bests of 9.850 on bars and 9.775 on floor came at NC State (2/14)...
Scored a 9.800 on beam against Boise State (1/24)... Career
bars high of 9.325 came against Utah (2/7)... Competed as a
Level 10 gymnast for Lindy Franzini, Vinici Liera and Enis Hudson
at Colorado Gymnastics Institute... A 2002 Level 10 national
qualifier... Second in the all-around at the state Level 10
competition in 2002... Won the 2002 state Level 10 title on
floor, finished third on vault, fifth on bars and eighth on
beam... Finished second on bars and sixth in the all-around
at 2002 regional competition... Graduated from Cherry Creek
High with a 3.6 GPA.
NALANI CHUNG - Sophomore from Fort Collins, Colo...
Set a career high on bars (9.900) against Utah (2/7), her season
debut... Competed in six meets in 2002, posting a 9.713 bars
average in that span... Set a career-best at Cal State Fullerton
(3/15/02), where she scored a 9.825 and took fourth in the event...
Her first collegiate action came at BYU, where she scored 9.550.
SARAH COLSON - Sophomore from Littleton, Colo... Suffered
a stress fracture after the meet at Oklahoma... Had a career-best
vault at Oklahoma (1/19), with a 9.650... Broke her ankle in
practice prior to the 2002 Western Gymnastics meet and did not
participate the rest of the season.
NICOLE KILPATRICK - Senior from Ringwood, N.J... Owns
15 top-three finishes on the year... Only Aggie to finish among
the top three against Utah... Has already improved upon four
career-best scores this season, including bars (9.875) and all-around
(39.475) against Utah (2/7), and beam (9.95) and floor (9.925)
against Boise State (1/24)... Career-best beam score ties (9.925)
the school record shared by Tina Ellis (2001) and Krissy Richards
(1997), and her floor score ties the fifth-best in USU history...
Has four event titles (two vault, one beam, one all-around)
this season... All-around score against Utah tied the fourth-best
in USU history... 9.925 vault score at the 2002 Western Gymnastics
Conference meet (3/22/02) was the second-best score in school
history and gave her the event title... 2002 season average
of 38.468 in the all-around is 11th all-time at USU.
LIESEL KOHLER - Freshman from Watsonville, Calif...
Career-best 9.825 on beam came against Utah (2/7)... Scored
9.850 on floor against Boise State (1/24)... Competed as a Level
10 gymnast for Javier Vargas at Elite Gymnastics Academy in
Salinas, Calif... A 2002 graduate of Monterey Bay Academy (La
Selva Beach, Calif.) with a 3.75 GPA.
RACHAEL MANDY - Freshman from Fargo, N.D... Tore her
ACL in practice prior in December, and will redshirt this season...
Competed as a Level 10 gymnast for Amy Sahli and Kelli Dronen
at American Gold Gymnastics in Fargo... 1999 and 2000 Level
10 state champion... Took second at 2001 state... Qualified
for regional competition seven consecutive years, once at Level
9 and six times at Level 10... Won the 2001 regional vault championship
and took second in 1999.
KYLA MATTIOLI - Junior from Hampton, N.J... A career-best
9.850 vault score against Boise State (2/27/02) claimed her
the event title... Career high on floor (9.750) at Cal State
Fullerton (2/4/02), was tied at Southern Utah (3/13/02)... Career-best
9.750 on bars at San Jose State (1/26/02)... Vault average of
9.696.
MEAGAN NELSON - Freshman from Las Vegas, Nev... All-around
scores in the first six meets were better than 39.000, including
39.500 against Boise State (1/24), the third-best all-around
score in USU history... Has 16 top-three finishes on the year...
Against Boise State, she set career highs on beam (9.900) and
floor (9.950)... Beam score (9.900) ties the seventh-best score
in USU history, while her career floor score (9.950) ties the
second-best... Seven event titles on the season (vault, three
floor, three all-around)... Competed as a Level 10 gymnast for
Cassie Rice and Jill Enritta at GymCats Gymnastics in Las Vegas...
An eight-time state champion, she has titles in the Level 10
bars, vault, floor and all-around... Took second at the 2001
state meet in the all-around... Finished 11th at Level 10 nationals
as a senior.
JESSICA PARENTI - Freshman from Glendora, Calif....
Became just the second freshman in USU history - and the second
this season - to score better than 39.00 in an all-around debut,
with 39.275 against Utah (2/7)... Career high 9.875 on bars
and beam were set against Utah (2/7)... Won the bars title at
CS Fullerton, her first collegiate meet (1/12), with a 9.925,
which tied the sixth-best bars score in school history... Has
four event titles this season (three bars, one beam)... Competed
as a Level 10 gymnast at Charter Oak Gliders for Lisa Muellers
and Jay Wells... Three-time nationals competitor (1999-2001)...
Second at 2000 nationals in bars, beam and the all-around...
Finished second on beam and third in bars at 2001 national competition...
Glendora High valedictorian (class of 540), she graduated with
a 4.0 GPA.
JESSICA RANDS - Sophomore from Sammamish, Wash...
Scored a career-best 9.825 on vault against Boise State (2/2/02).
RACHEL ROPELATO - Sophomore from Nibley, Utah... Career-high
scores on bars (9.800) and vault (9.850) came against Boise
State (1/24)... Has one event title on the year, tying teammate
Meagan Nelson on vault against Boise.
ALLISON ROSENTHAL - Senior from Scottsdale, Ariz...
Posted career-high beam score against Boise State (1/24) with
a 9.775... Tied her top career floor score of 9.875 for the
fourth time at Western Gymnastics Conference meet (3/22/02)...
Ranked second on the team in floor average, ending the year
with a 9.690... Had three top-three finishes, including an event
title (beam).
KATIE RUTHERFORD - Sophomore co-captain from Chappaqua,
N.Y... Keeps improving on career vault scores in 2003, with
a 9.700 at NC State (2/14)... Also tied her career high on bars
(9.925) against the Utes this season... Earned bars title at
the WGC meet (3/22/02), scoring 9.925 and tying the fifth-best
bars score at USU... Career-best 9.900 on beam tied the seventh-best
beam score in school history... Only freshman to compete in
all 14 meets for the Aggies in 2002.
KIMBERLY SCHARMAN - Senior co-captain from Salt Lake
City, Utah... Has not competed in 2003... Set a career best
on beam at the Western Gymnastics Conference meet on March 22
with a 9.750... Finished in the top three on bars twice as a
junior.
ASHLEY YOUNG - Freshman from Longmont, Colo... Set
career highs on vault (9.650), beam (9.825) and floor (9.700)
against Boise State (1/24)... Competed as a Level 10 gymnast
Richard Villarela and Blythe Baca at Berthoud School of Gymnastics...
Was the 2001 regional vault champion... Also finished fifth
on bars and sixth in the all-around at the 2001 regionals...
A 2001 national qualifier... Graduated with a 3.7 grade point
average from Skyline High.
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