By LYa wodraska

| The Salt Lake Tribune

There was no need for any fiery confrontations with judges or complaints Friday as Utah’s seventh-ranked gymnastics team took care of No. 9 Oregon State in workmanlike fashion, winning the Pac-12 showdown 196.575-195.6.

The meet lacked the drama of a week ago, when Utah barely beat Stanford 196.3-196.1 in a competition that led to an eventual Pac-12 reprimand of coach Greg Marsden for his comments about the quality of judging.

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At a glance

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Storylines

KEY MOMENT » Kyndal Robarts finishes Utah’s vault rotation with a 9.975 for the second week in a row.

KEY STAT » OSU has never beaten the Utes in Salt Lake City, losing all 28 competitions here.

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Event winners

Vault » Kyndal Robarts (Utah), 9.975

Uneven bars » Georgia Dabritz (Utah) and Stephanie McAllister (Utah), 9.85

Balance beam » Cortni Beers (Utah), 9.9

Floor » Stephanie McAllister (Utah), 9.95

All-around » Stephanie McAllister (Utah), 39.375

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Friday’s meet also lacked the pizzaz. If anything, the meet was too workmanlike for the Utes.

Utah, which has failed to break the 197 mark the last four outings after doing so three meets in a row, continued to be plagued by minor breaks that prevented the Utes from earning a big score.

"We are competing like the team we are, and we are primarily made of freshmen and sophomores," Marsden said. "We were all over the place. It’s not the same people making mistakes week after week, so from our perspective as coaches it’s inexplicable because they appear to be prepared in practice."

The less-than-stellar effort never put Friday’s meet in jeopardy for the Utes, but Utah knows it will need better efforts and bigger scores in the postseason if it is going to be a contender for Pac-12 and national titles.

The teams at the top of the rankings, such as Florida and UCLA, are regularly scoring above 197. The Bruins posted the highest score in the country last week with a 198.05-194.85 win over Arizona State.

Reaching that mark might not be possible for the Utes, but they know efforts such as Friday’s won’t cut it.

"It’s frustrating because we do have a great team, but we’re not showing our full potential," senior Kyndal Robarts said. "We did at the beginning of the season. I don’t know if we are letting it get to our heads and making us nervous that we are this great team and we have to show everyone."

On Friday, the Utes opened with a season-high 49.425 on the vault then struggled on the uneven bars and balance beam.

Usually steady uneven bars performer Cortni Beers fell off the bars and Corrie Lothrop had a break in her routine, leaving the Utes with a 48.875.

Lothrop’s problems continued on beam, where she scored just 9.55, and freshman Georgia Dabritz fell, managing only 8.6.

The Utes finished strong with a 49.425 on floor, topped by a 9.95 from Stephanie McAllister, who also won the all-around with a 39.375.

McAllister was more concerned with the team’s effort than celebrating her own win.

"We keep talking about it, but we do have to do what we do in practice," she said. "This team has so much depth, but the last couple of meets we’ve let it get to our heads. We’re trying to be too perfect every single day."

Marsden admitted he gave his team a rather stern pep talk before the floor rotation. They could be in for more of those as they prepare for the final meets of the season.

"We have to quit competing like frightened bunnies," Marsden said. "Their mantra is ‘Women at War,’ and we’ve got to get on a mission and quite thinking so much."

lwodraska@sltrib.com

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