Southern Utah comes off a season where the Thunderbirds finished the regular season ranked 18th in the country and set school records on multiple occasions. The squad earned a program-best score three times, including twice in one week when Southern Utah scored a 196.700 on Feb. 7 vs. Denver and a 196.725 on Feb. 11 vs. Utah State. The Thunderbirds earned their top road score of the season in a Feb. 26 meet at Michigan. They set another school record on March 4 with a 197.025 on Senior Night against NC State. The team showed plenty of potential and the incoming freshman will aim to continue building on the success of the 2017 season.

​Outgoing: ​Madyson Blake-Howard, Tyly Bozzuto, Virginia Brownsell, Danielle Ramirez, Memory Shettles, Sydney Townsend, Stacie Webb

The Thunderbirds lose seven seniors to graduation from the 2017 squad for a total of 16 routines. They lose five potential vaults and floor routines in Blake-Howard, Bozzuto, Brownsell, Ramirez and Webb. Bozzuto, Ramirez and Webb also contributed on balance beam while Ramirez, Shettles and Townsend all contributed on uneven bars. Ramirez missed half of last season with a knee injury but was the only senior to have competed in the all-around consistently until then. Webb earned the first perfect 10 in school history against BYU on March 13. Shettles notched a 9.800 or better in 11 of 12 uneven bars routines.

​Incoming: ​Morgan Alfaro, Jiang Braley, Mckenna Burnside, Julianna Dahlke, Mikaela DeFilippo, Molly Jozwiakowski, Alyssa LaDieu, Madison Loomis (transfer), Hannah Nipp, Mary Packham, Amanda Wiltsie

Morgan Alfaro

Placentia, California
Trained at Gym-Max Gymnastics
Coached by Jenny and Howie Liang

Alfaro competed at either the JO national championships (2015) or JO NIT (2012 and 2014) three times. She finished tied for 15th on floor exercise in 2015. She was the silver medalist in the all-around and was the JO NIT champion on both floor exercise and uneven bars in 2014. She picked up bronze on balance beam in 2012 at the JO NIT. Alfaro was a six-time Region 1 competitor. She had back-to-back bronze medal performances on vault in 2010 and 2011 at regionals.

​Video courtesy of Morgan Alfaro

​Impact event(s): All-around

Jiang Braley

Arvada, Colorado
Trained at TIGAR Gymnastics

Braley earned seventh on vault at the Region 3 championships and third on vault at the Colorado state championships in 2015. She also picked up an eighth place finish on floor at those state championships. Braley earned fourth in the all-around and on uneven bars at the 2014 state championships where she earned silver on beam and eighth on vault.

​Video courtesy of Jiang Braley

​Impact event(s): Vault

McKenna Burnside

Fort Worth, Texas
Trained at U.S. Gold
Coached by Molly Blessing and Tina Martin

Burnside was a three-time qualifier to the JO national championships or JO NIT during her club career. She was the 2015 JO NIT all-around and floor exercise champion. She also tied for third on beam and fourth on vault. Burnside finished sixth on floor at the 2017 JO national championships and earned a bronze medal on floor at the Region 3 championships. She finished fifth in the all-around, earned silver on floor, bronze on beam and was fourth on vault.

​Impact event(s): All-around

Julianna Dahlke

Irvine, California
Trained at South Coast Gymnastics

Dahlke earned seventh on uneven bars and 11th on floor exercise at the Region 1 championships in 2017. She earned 14th on vault, uneven bars and floor exercise.

​Video courtesy of Julianna Dahlke

​Impact event(s): Floor exercise

Mikaela DeFilippo

Abbottstown, Pennsylvania
Trained at Artistic Sports Academy Plus
Coached by Barry Mattern and Talia Cover

DeFilippo was a three-event specialist, competing on vault, balance beam and floor exercise.  She was a three-time Region 7 championship qualifier. She earned sixth on vault and fifth on floor exercise at the 2016 Pennsylvania state championships. She took fifth on vault and sixth on floor at the 2016 Region 7 championships. She finished fifth on vault at states in 2015 and was the silver medalist on vault at the 2014 Pennsylvania state championships.

​Video courtesy of Mikaela DeFilippo

​Impact event(s): Vault and floor exercise

Molly Jozwiakowski

Kirkwood, Missouri
Trained at St. Louis Gym Centre
Coached by Laura Faintich and Louis Klein

Jozwiakowski was a three-time JO national championships qualifier. Her best finish came in 2016 when she tied for 17th on balance beam. She finished second in the all-around and third on both vault and floor at the 2017 Missouri state championships. She also grabbed fourth on bars and sixth on balance beam. She earned seventh in the all-around and on both vault and bars at the Region 4 championships where she also earned eighth on beam and floor in 2017. Jozwiakowski earned silver medals in the all-around and on bars, beam and floor in both 2014 and 2015. She was Missouri vault champion in 2014 and earned bronze on vault in 2015.

​Video courtesy of Molly Jozwiakowski

​Impact event(s): All-around

Alyssa LaDieu

Rockwall, Texas
Trained at Trevinos Gymnastics
Coached by Rick Trevino

LaDieu was a four-time Region 3 qualifier. She went to the JO national championships in 2016 where she finished fifth on balance beam. She was the 2016 Region 3 champion on floor exercise while earning silver on both balance beam and in the all-around. She also picked up bronze on uneven bars. LaDieu picked up bronze on beam at the 2016 Texas state championships. She finished seventh in the all-around, on floor exercise and uneven bars.

​Video courtesy of Alyssa LaDieu

​Impact event(s): Balance beam

Madison Loomis

Hemet, California
Trained at SCEGA Gymnastics

Loomis is a transfer from San Jose State where she competed in 10 meets during the 2017 season. She appeared on balance beam three times and floor exercise on seven occasions. She earned a 9.700 or better four times on floor, including a season-best 9.825 against Utah State. She was the silver medalist on vault at both the Southern California state championships and the Region 1 championships in 2016. She earned a seventh place finish in the all-around at regionals.

​Video courtesy of Madison Loomis

​Impact event(s): Vault and floor exercise

Hannah Nipp

Laguna Hills, California
Trained for Azarian Gymnastics
Coached by Perry Davies and Krassi Varbanova

Nipp is a two-time JO national championship qualifier. She finished eighth on uneven bars at the 2017 JO nationals. She also picked up bronze on uneven bars and finished fifth on floor exercise, seventh in the all-around and ninth on balance beam at the 2017 Region 1 championships. Nipp was the 2016 Southern California all-around state champion. She earned the state title on uneven bars and a bronze medal on floor exercise.

​Video courtesy of Hannah Nipp

​Impact event(s): Uneven bars

Mary Packham

Portland, Oregon
Trained at Omega Gymnastics
Coached by Ivan Alexov and Tiffany Quincy

Packham made her Level 10 debut in 2017 and had a stellar Oregon state championship meet. She was the Oregon state champion on balance beam and earned silver in the all-around and bronze on both vault and bars. She took fourth on floor exercise. She was the all-around and floor champion at the Level 9 Westerns in 2016. She was the Level 9 Region 2 champion in the all-around and on bars, beam and floor in 2016.

​Impact event(s): All-around

Amanda Wiltsie

Layton, Utah
Trained at USA Gymnastics World

Wiltsie was a two-time Utah state championship qualifier. She finished sixth on vault, eighth on floor exercise and ninth in the all-around in 2017. She finished 15th in the all-around at the 2017 Region 1 championships.  Wiltsie tied for 11th on floor exercise at the 2016 Utah state championships.

​Impact event(s): Floor exercise and vault