By Levern Johnson (@inkedjournalist) – Gymnastics Beat Reporter
SJSU gymnastics (11-1, 8-0 MPSF) continued its win streak after it beat No. 22 Southern Utah University in the final home meet of the season 196.175-195.250.
San Jose State seniors Cameron Kelperis, Jada Mazury, Emma Milne, Alexa Solomon, and graduate student Ariana Castrence, were all celebrated in what would be their last performance in the Provident Credit Union Event Center.
The Spartans started Sunday’s event blazing, as Jaudai Lopes scored a 9.925 on the vault followed by fellow junior Lauren Macpherson who carved out a 9.775.
Macpherson ended the night with an all-around score of 39.375, just days after marking a new career high of 39.550 in Friday’s quad meet at Sacramento State.
Castrence also joined the vault party scoring 9.800 giving the Spartans an early lead after one event.
But it wasn’t an easy senior night win due to a few slip-ups on the beam where the team struck a season-low 48.500, giving the lead away to Southern Utah after three events.
“Luckily we had the mishap tonight, rather than in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship,” coach Joanne Bowers said. “All season we’ve been hot on the beam, so it was great to see us still pull out a victory even though we experienced some trouble.”
All together, it lead up to the SJSU gymnastics floor team having to come together and pull out a victory that at this point was far from reach.
However, Kelperis had other plans scoring a career-best 9.925 on the floor, locking in the top score for the event. Fellow senior Mazury added a 9.875 to keep the Spartans victory chances alive.
Levern Johnson – The Spear
Surprisingly, Southern Utah suffered similar issues on the beam as they finished with an even lower score of 47.925, giving the lead back to San Jose State.
And this time, the Spartans did not let the lead slip away finishing with a team floor score of 49.425 to solidify the win.
These graduates can now humbly brag to future generations as the history books will document how this team finished their 2023 season undefeated at home.
The Spartans finish their regular season this Friday as they travel to Cedar City, Utah, and compete against No. 22 Southern Utah and No. 24 Iowa. The tri-meet begins at 6 p.m. and will be live on EPSN+.
