BOISE – Emma Loyim and Adriana Popp have both never been to Arkansas.
When asked what they know about The Natural State, the Boise State gymnasts responded with “Arkansas Razorbacks” and that it’s probably “humid.”
They and the rest of the Boise State gymnastics team will get to experience it all firsthand in nine days. The Broncos were one of 36 teams selected to participate in the NCAA Regional Championships for the 16th consecutive season Monday morning. The Blue and Orange will compete in the Fayetteville Regional inside the Bud Walton Arena starting on April 3.
“We obviously wanted to keep the streak going,” Loyim said. “We’re so grateful to be going to Arkansas because it’s somewhere we’ve never been before. So we’re ready. And we’re really excited.”
But there was a notable gasp when it was revealed who Boise State’s first-round opponent would be. It will face BYU for the second year in a row.
The Broncos beat the Cougars 196.7-196.125 to advance at regionals a year ago. The two schools were Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference rivals for years before the league dissolved at the end of last season. BYU joined the Big-12, while Boise State helped the Mountain West finally form a conference of its own for gymnastics.”
“We haven’t competed against them at all this year. So it’s gonna be super exciting to get a matchup again at regionals for the buy-in rounds,” Popp said. “I’m really excited to see how we’ll be able to compete against them.”
If the Broncos get by the Cougars then they’ll have to finish top-2 in not one, but two quad meets in order to advance to nationals for the first time in program history. The other teams in their regional are Kentucky, Arkansas, Arizona, Nebraska, LSU, Minnesota and Oregon State.
LSU and Kentucky have two of the top-7 National Qualifying Scores (NQS) at 198.215 and 197.810, respectively, in the country. Boise State’s is 196.715, which is ranked 29th in the nation.
However, the Broncos are not deterred in the slightest.
“I do,” said Loyim when asked if this could be the team to finally do it. “Something about this team is different. It’s magical. And so we’re so motivated. We’re ready to go and we’re gonna see what we can do out there.”
Boise State has already made history once this season and it was less than 48 hours ago. The Broncos won the inaugural Mountain West Conference Championships against Utah State, San Jose State and Air Force down in Logan, Utah Saturday. They downed the Aggies by just a half a point (196.550-196.550) for their first league title since 2019.
It meant that Popp, the lone fifth-year senior on the team, finally got that elusive ring.
“That was on a whole nother level,” Popp said. “I’ve been here five years and this is my first conference championship. So it meant the world and all of our hard work just paid off.”
Popp was the MW Co-Beam Specialist of the Year with her score of 9.925, which tied her for second place on the apparatus. But she wasn’t the only Bronco to take home all-conference honors that night.
Senior Emily Lopez became the 10th Boise State gymnast in history to be named conference Gymnast of the Year. She was also the Bars Specialist of the Year with an NQS of 9.930.
Boise State head coach Tina Bird was named the MW Coach of the Year – the seventh time in her career she’s earned Coach of the Year honors.
And rounding it out was Loyim. The junior became the first Bronco in seven years to win multiple conference titles with wins in both the balance beam (9.950) and floor (9.900).
The balance beam score is the highest in school history ever at a conference championship meet.
“I approached my events wanting to do it for the team. I knew how bad we would need every last 10th (of a point) and it came down to the last half 10th. So I knew everything that I did mattered. Every skill counted,” Loyim said. “So I really just stayed in the moment, stayed present and just did it all for my team. Being able to win first place was something I never expected. But I’m so excited that (it) happened and it’s just gonna help me build confidence going into regionals.”
Loyim qualified for regionals in those events individually, as well. And she’s not alone.
Lopez (uneven bars, balance beam), Popp (balance beam) and senior Courtney Blackson (floor exercise, uneven bars) all did so, too. Blackson, who was the national runner-up in the vault last year, is currently battling injury. But Bird said she’s expected to go for regionals.
“It was our goal at the beginning of the year to qualify for regionals and you never want to say that’s a given,” Bird said. “So we’re excited coming off the Mountain West win. It’s going to be easy training and a good trip for the girls. And as you can tell, they’re really excited.”
