USU Gymnastics Hosts Tri-Meet Friday To Kick Off Home Season

LOGAN, Utah – To kick off a four-meet homestand, the Utah State gymnastics team (1-3) will be hosting former Western Athletic Conference rival No. 13 Boise State (2-0) and current WAC opponent Southern Utah (0-2) at the Spectrum Friday night at 7 p.m. (MT). Friday is USU Faculty and Staff Appreciation Night. Employees of Utah State and their families can purchase event tickets for a discounted price of $1 each. This is the second year in a row that Southern Utah has been the opponent for the Aggies’ home opener. It is the second time in three years that Boise State has been the first meet opponent as the Broncos were in Logan for the Aggies’ 2010 home-opener. It also marks the second-straight season that USU has hosted a tri-meet after not doing so in the previous two seasons. Friday’s meet is the first of four home meets in a row for the Aggies, as they will host Arizona State on Friday, Feb. 3, San Jose State on Friday, Feb. 10 and Sacramento State on Friday, Feb. 17. The four-meet homestand is the longest since 2004 when USU also had a stretch of four-straight home meets. “We’re excited for our first home meet. We’ve had two good, but not great meets. We’re ready to put together a complete meet,” said head coach Jeff Richards. “We love competing at home in front of our fans. They’re great and we love all the support they give us.” Friday’s meet features fourth-year USU head coach Richards facing his former boss, as he was an assistant under SUU head coach Scott Bauman from 1991-98. Both head coaches began their coaching careers as student assistants for Utah State legendary head coach Ray Corn, with Richards coaching from 1988-90 while Bauman was with the Aggies through his 1990 graduation. Friday’s meet also features a match-up between two head coaches leading the opposite’s alma mater, as USU’s Richards is a 1995 Southern Utah graduate while SUU’s Bauman is a 1990 graduate of Utah State. The Aggies are coming home after two weekends on the road. Last weekend, the team was in Denton, Texas competing in a quad-meet with No. 5 Oklahoma, Texas Woman’s and Centenary. They fought hard but narrowly escaped second-place by a tenth of a point. USU has a team-total average of 192.125, posting averages of 48.075 on vault, a WAC-best 48.663 on bars, 47.100 on beam and 48.288 on floor. Landes is fourth in the WAC, sixth in the North Central region and tied for 45th in the country in the all-around with a 38.875 average. She also is tied for fourth in the conference, tied for 11th in the region and tied for No. 90 in the nation on bars (9.763), as well as tied for sixth in the league, tied for No. 16 in the region and tied for 99th in the nation on beam (9.725). Jones is second in the WAC, eighth in the region and tied for 57th in the country on vault (9.825), as well as tied for third in the conference, tied for 10th in the region and tied for 70th in the nation on floor (9.800). Live results for Friday’s tri-meet are available by clicking on the “Live Results” link at www.UtahStateAggies.com, the official web site of USU athletics. Fans can watch the meet on Friday live online by clicking on the “Watch Live” link at www.UtahStateAggies.com, the official web site of USU athletics. Fans will need to pay a small fee to watch the meet. For USU gymnastics ticket information, contact the USU Ticket Office at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, by phone by calling 1-888-USTATE-1 or (435) 797-0305, or online 24 hours a day at www.UtahStateAggies.com and clicking on the “buy/renew tickets” under the “tickets” drop down menu. Fans can follow the Aggie gymnastics program at twitter.com/USUGymnastics or on Facebook at Utah State Gymnastics. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program at twitter.com/USUAthletics or on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics. -USU-

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