Often, mistakes are made when too little effort is given. In the case of Utah's gymnastics team, the Utes are making them due to too much effort.

The third-ranked Utes, who host Washington on Friday, have improved in all areas except on the floor, where step-outs and other minor errors are preventing the Utes from reaching their full potential.

However, rather than needing to work harder, the Utes must do a better job of getting their adrenalin under control.

The Utes are tied for 11th with UCLA, averaging 48.895 on the event. That average could be a lot higher once they eliminate minor errors, Utah coach Greg Marsden said.

The Utes are ranked in the top five on all other events.

"We're not doing anything terribly wrong, we just need to be more precise in our landings," Marsden said. "Landing deductions and passes, we're giving away .5 points or more by stepping forward out of landings, piking down or bouncing out of landings. Each week we are taking a step forward in all our other areas, but that is the one place we still need to improve tremendously."

While the Utes have had many of their meets well in hand once they go to the floor, Marsden believes the Utes are pressing too much rather than backing off too much, as some teams might do.

"We are using a lot of young people who haven't competed floor for us," he said. "I still believe we will grow in that as time goes on, so I have to be careful about harping on it too much. I don't want to make it worse; we just need to train like we want to compete, and in order to do that we have to hit our landings in practice."

Just in

Freshman Hailee Hansen made the most of her chance to compete Friday by scoring a 9.75 on the uneven bars. She went in place of freshman Mary Beth Lofgren. Marsden said the lineup change had nothing to do with Lofgren's abilities and everything to do with his need to see different gymnasts in different situations.

"She has had great workouts and we need to reward people," he said of Hansen.

Senior Jacquelyn Johnson is expected to return to competition this week after missing the past two meets with concussion symptoms. Both Lofgren and Hansen have been bumped from the lineup to make way for Johnson and freshman Nansy Damianova, who will start the uneven-bars rotation for the Utes. —

Gymnastics rankings

Average 1. Florida 197.035

2. Stanford 196.656

3. Utah 196.165

4. Georgia 195.950

5. Oklahoma 195.933

6. Oregon St. 195.821

7. Alabama 195.77

8. Michigan 195.635

9. Nebraska 195.438

10. UCLA 195.43

Also

No. 22 SUU 194.45