Prior to 1958, gymnastics existed at BYU as an unsponsored sport, winning league victories as early as 1911. The BYU gymnastics program was officially established in 1958 by the BYU Athletics Department with Richard Andrus as the first head coach. During the beginnings of the program, scheduling was a significant problem. The closest university with a program was 600 miles away. Colleges who did have programs either had few open dates, or requested large amounts of money for travel expenses. Consequently, BYU traveled to Colorado and California only, and did not have home meets. During their first year, the team finished with three wins and two losses.