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Show SUSC gymnastics team places fourth in invitational CEDAR CITY The Southern Utah State College gymnastics team placed fourth in their four-team invitational meet Friday, and the huge throng attending the meet was delighted at the quality of gymnastics . demonstrated by the 'Birds ' and the other three competing squads. SUSC coach Kathryn Berg commented on the meet: "I thought it was a really good meet. For our first time out, I thought we did really well. That's the biggest crowd we've ever had." Berg was as tickled with the huge turnout for the meet as she was with the good performance of her squad. Fans were packed into the SUSC Physical Education Building and weren't disappointed with what they saw. Cal Poly Pomona captured top team honors, garnering 122.85 points. Western State College finished second with 119.5 points, Adams State was third with 117.75 and Southern Utah was a close fourth with 116.65 tallies. Two SUSC performers did very well individually in the competition. Brenda Shaw scored 29 points, good enough for a fifth place individual finish; and Michelle Hibberd tied for sixth individually with 28.25 points. Karen Smith and Janet Jorgensen also fared very well individually. Smith picked up 28 points and Jorgensen scored 27.25, Scoring in gymnastics is done on a 10 points scale, and each routine must include various specified components and maneuvers. Judges for the event were brought in from northern Utah. "It's really hard to get people to come in here for a gymnastics meet," explained Berg. She cited the large travel time as the main factor contributing to this problem, along with the large expenses involved in hosting a gymnastics meet that makes meets very costly for the host school. Berg is optimistic about her team's chances in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. "I think we'll do well in the conference," stated Berg. "There aren't that many division two schools in gymnastics." Competitors in Friday's meet took a couple of bad spills, but nobody was seriously hurt, according to Berg. "We'll probably have a couple of stiff necks," laughed Berg. |