Nov. 19, 2007

LOGAN, Utah - Utah State gymnastics head coach Ray Corn was pleased with the outcome of Monday's Turkey Day Olympics, the Aggies' first intrasquad scrimmage of the season, held at the HPER building on the USU campus.

The meet was a controlled scrimmage with the gymnasts performing in all four Olympic events, starting with the vault, then on to the uneven bars, balance beam and finishing on the floor exercise.

Corn, who is entering his 31st season at the helm of the Aggies, saw the meet as a way to work on things from last year for the returners as well as introduce and adapt the newcomers to college gymnastics in preparation for the 2008 season.

"The RQS individual score for the 10th ranked team (last season) was something like 9.713," Corn said. "We were 28th going into that and RQS individual score was 9.673, four one hundredths of a point separated us from the 10th-ranked team. Where are we going to get the four hundredths? Certainly staying on the equipment consistently is one thing, but even then we wouldn't be there. So we're trying to find ways to pick up a half a tenth on every routine. If we can do that this year, we're going to be doing very well."

The Aggies have seven returners on the roster from last season, including four seniors, two juniors and one sophomore.

"What I'm pleased with is our upperclassmen like Megan Tschida, Ana Rickard-Whitfield, Kelly Patterson and Katie Omann. They're doing some of the best stuff that they've done in their lives and I hope that we can actually see that on the floor of competition," Corn said.

Utah State finished third at the WAC Championships and sixth at last year's NCAA Regionals, marking the 26th time in the 30 years of USU Gymnastics that the Aggies qualified for postseason competition.

"With eight freshman, I think they're fitting into the system very well because they're making the adjustments of adapting to college gymnastics," Corn said. "What we saw tonight was just a really nice big light at the end of the tunnel, but it's a long tunnel.

The Aggies have seven returning letterwinners as well as eight newcomers on their roster.

"It's going to be a great blend of juniors and seniors, we're going to have seven upperclassmen and we're going to have seven freshman in the mix."

Corn noted that freshman Christa Drury will be out for the beginning of the season with an injury.

USU will have one more intrasquad meet on Dec. 6, in final preparation for the season.

"We're a long way from where we want to be, but they're doing a good job," Corn said.

"Without a doubt, we're getting what we wanted out of this," Corn said in reference to Monday's intrasquad meet. "Nerves, a few people watching, and I'm looking forward to our Meet The Aggies night in January."

After a "Meet The Aggies" exhibition meet on Jan. 8, Utah State opens the year on Jan. 11 at Boise, Idaho, taking on Boise State in a dual. USU returns to Logan for its home-opener on Jan. 18 against Sacramento State, followed by its second meet in as many weeks against Boise State in the Spectrum on Jan. 22.

All USU home meets begin at 6:30 p.m.

Gymnastics tickets are available through the USU Ticket Office at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, online at www.UtahStateAggies.com and clicking on "tickets" in left column, or by calling 1-888-U-STATE-1 or (435) 797-0305.