Simpson women’s gymnastics earned a score of 184.850 in their duel at Greenville, which was a season-high before last Saturday where they scored 185.175 at a tri-meet.

The team posted season-high scores of 47.950 on vault, 43.550 on bars, and 47.525 on floor. Kaelyn Tally and Brooklen Morgan both earned their first collegiate title. Tally won the vault after scoring 9.750 and Morgan scored first on beam with a 9.700.

Tally is a first-year student majoring in business management. Before coming to Simpson, she competed for Motion Matrix Gymnastics in Grants Pass, Oregon. Tally said the team feels more prepared than the start of the season.

“This was our fourth meet of the season so we kind of know what to expect now,” Tally said. “Going into it we can stay calm, cool, and collected, and go do what we know how to do.”

Tally anchors the team on vault and has a huge responsibility to hit her vault consistently. She said it was nice to be able to bring it home for everybody. “I only got .5 off in deductions with my star value. I started at 9.8 and got a 9.75 which is really exciting because, in the college world, .5 off is really hard to do.”

The women have their first two home meets of the season upcoming in February. This Saturday on Feb. 11 both the women and men take on Greenville in a double-dual starting at 11:00 a.m. The women host Alaska-Anchorage the following week on Feb. 17.

Gymnastics were introduced to Simpson this year for both men and women. Tally said the team came into its inaugural season with an open mind.

“For me, and a lot of other people, the main reason why we committed here was to be a part of the first team,” Tally said. “Having that breakthrough in the gymnastics world is super exciting to be a part of.”

Morgan is majoring in health and exercise science. Morgan said she was excited after hearing about the season-high score.

“We were obviously really upset that we lost but hearing that good news made everything so much better. I think it was a really good stepping stone for the upcoming weeks,” she said.

And the team has grown significantly since the beginning of the season. 

“I think we’ve all matured and gotten into the groove of things,” Morgan said. “We’ve learned to rely on each other, and we have certain people we can go to. You always know that someone will have your back no matter what.”

The unique dynamic of collegiate gymnastics compared to club gymnastics would be team-based scoring. She said club gymnastics were very much individualized.

“Not that club was negative, it was just going in, getting your business done and leaving. Here it’s enjoying the moments, you have friends doing it and it’s for each other,” Morgan said. 

The team hopes to see everyone at their home meets on Feb. 11 at 11:00 a.m. and Feb. 17 at 6:00 p.m.