Brianna Brooks’ breakout season

By Emma Becerra

Utah State Gymnastics was upended at the end of last year when the previous head coach left for Clemson and eight of USU’s former athletes followed her. This year, the squad has a new coaching staff, and they have brought on six new athletes. The struggles the team has faced early on this year can be expected with a new coach and new athletes; however, Brianna Brooks has been an energetic and positive student leader during this tough season.

Brooks is a junior from Las Vegas and has competed in all events for the Aggies this season. With so much change in the last year for the gymnastics squad, Brooks has been a consistent and reliable performer.

“She’s the kind of athlete that every coach dreams to have,” head coach Kristin White said. “She comes to practice with a smile on her face every single day and a hard-working attitude. She’s really developed into a phenomenal leader for our program.”

When White had time to talk to Brooks individually after she was hired, she said she could feel her energy right away. The positive attitude Brooks exudes every day has helped her be successful during her events, but it has also been a tremendous example for her teammates, according to White.

Before this year, Brooks was a star for the Aggies on the vault, bars and beam. This season, she has been a constant competitor in all events, where she has repeatedly put up big numbers for the Aggies. She has won three all-around titles so far this season and multiple Rockstar of the Meet awards at home competitions.

Brooks has made consistent improvements as the season has progressed, with some of her best meets coming at the end of January and in February. On vault, she currently has a season-high of 9.850, which she recorded at Boise State, tying for fourth in that competition. On bars, she has a season-high of 9.875, which she recorded at Boise State and against BYU. And on beam, Brooks tied her personal best with a 9.900 at BYU. For her first season competing on floor, she had a career-high 9.800 at Boise State. With all of her scores she’s achieved this season so far, she has set a new personal record overall score of 39.200.

Going into the season, Brooks knew she wanted to compete on floor. It was a spot she thought she could fill to help her team, and she also knew doing four events would be an opportunity for her to provide more leadership.

White was hesitant to let her compete in the event, as it’s not something Brooks has done during her time at USU so far.

But Brooks began to focus on the details of the floor event and started putting in extra work in the weight room.

According to White, Brooks is performing the best gymnastics this far into her college career, and it can be credited to her work and focus.