Jan. 29, 2003

LOGAN, Utah - Utah State freshman gymnast Meagan Nelson was named the Western Gymnastics Conference's Gymnast of the Week Wednesday. It's the second time this season she earned the honor.

Nelson won the all-around competition in USU's meet against Boise State Jan. 24 where she scored 39.500, the third-best all-around score in Utah State history. She is the first freshman ever at Utah State to post 39-plus scores in the all-around in her first three meets. Her performance helped USU to its team score of 195.350, the 15th-best score in school history. The team score also marked the first time ever USU has broken the 195 mark in the month of January.

Against Boise State, Nelson added four event scores to the top 10 lists at USU. In addition to her No. 3 all-around score, she also posted the No. 2 floor score (9.950), the sixth-best vault score (9.850) and the eighth-best beam score (9.900). Nelson owns five event titles on the season, including two all-around titles. She's also won vault once and floor twice.

Utah State gymnastics hosts No. 1 Utah on Friday, Feb. 7 in a 7 p.m. meet at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.

The Western Gymnastics Conference consists of Boise State, Cal State Fullerton, Southern Utah and Utah State and was formed in 2002.