PROVO — Once again the BYU gymnasts find themselves with a ticket to regionals, only this time they only managed to get to the competition, which will take place in Ames, Iowa, today, by the skin of their teeth.
The Cougars are ranked No. 24 with a Regional Qualifying Score of 194.450 and just beat out instate rival Southern Utah University for the trip to the North Central Regional by the slim margin of .040.
Iowa State University is hosting the North Central this year, so it won't be as much of a home meet as it was last year when the Cougars joined host Utah in advancing to nationals from the Huntsman Center. They have a much tougher road this season.
Other teams joining the Cougars in the regional are No. 4 Iowa State, No. 11 Arizona State, No. 15 Arizona, No. 19 Denver and No. 21 Minnesota, all of which reached the regional competition with higher RQS's than BYU.
But, they have been improving as the season has gone along, despite a real setback against Utah in the Huntsman Center just last month when they found themselves counting falls on both vault and bars.
"That meet was a microcosm of our season. We've been really good, and we've been really bad," said Cattermole, who feels lucky to be involved in regionals for the seventh straight year. Their sixth seed is the lowest in the past six years as last season they qualified in third before putting everything together in qualifying for nationals.
The gymnasts are hoping for the best, despite their youth and injuries.
"We just need to be a little more confident in ourselves so that when we do compete we know we're gonna come out and hit," said Dayna Smart.
The Cougars will count on all-arounder Kacie Capra and other team leaders Lisa Willis, Smart, and Alethea Boon in addition to plenty of other gymnasts who have put their mark on this season.
Though they don't have much chance to win a trip to Nationals, the Cougars are always optimistic and just hope to put together the best routines they can.
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