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Utah's gymnastics team felt it was in for a good night when their warmups went so well prior to their showdown with Pac-12 rival Stanford. But when it was all said and done, they surprised even themselves with some of their best performances of the season.

The fourth-ranked Utes (9-0, 5-0) topped No. 16 Stanford (4-6, 2-4) 198.05-195.9 in front of 15,202 at the Huntsman Center.

Utah's score was the highest it has earned since beating Florida 198.125-197.875 in the 2013 season and drew a response of "holy crap," when the team heard their final mark.

"It is a big score," said senior Georgia Dabritz, who earned a 10.0 on the uneven bars. "It is a big confidence booster for us that will help us in future competitions."

The Utes, who learned last week they would host the 2015 Pac-12 Gymnastics Championships, further solidified their position as the hands down favorite to repeat with a Saturday performance that was solid from start to finish.

Utah earned season highs on every event except the floor. That they were able to achieve such high marks was impressive considering the Utes have been so solid this season. But they went from being a very good team to being outstanding Saturday.

"That is the kind of score you need to be perceived as having a chance to compete at championships," Marsden said of the NCAA Championships. "You've got to be able to do that and we were good at a lot of things tonight."

The only area Marsden thought the Utes could have performed better was on the floor where they earned a 49.45. But even then the low score was still a respectable 9.85.

"We had a chance to really knock it out of the park," he said. "Vault they were finishing really early and anticipating the landings so I was pleased with where that was and it may have been the best bar set of the year. We hit a lot of handstands and that is where you get the big scores and the dismounts on beam were much better this week. Floor just maybe wasn't quite as good as last week."

Vault provided plenty of drama when Utah opened up the night with a 49.65 on vault with both Georgia Dabritz and Kailah Delaney flirting with 10.0s. One judge gave Dabritz a 10.0 but the other gave her a 9.9 for a score of 9.95. Delaney received a 10.0 from the judge who docked Dabritz and a 9.95 from the other for a 9.975.

Some in the crowd booed the scores, but in reality the Utes had little to complain about as the whole lineup went big to put the Utes well ahead of Stanford, which opened with a 49.25 on the uneven bars.

It was all Utah from there, as the Utes posted a 49.6 on the uneven bars led by a 10.0 from Dabritz. Even the balance beam couldn't trip up the Utes as they scored 49.35 with freshman Kari Lee highlighting the rotation with a 9.95.

That the Utes competed on the balance beam with such ease sets this team apart from recent ones, Lothrop said.

"Last year's team was passionate and we wanted it bad," she said. "But this team not only wants it bad and is talented, but we are doing all the routines the same. It's not scattered in different meets like it was last year. We are getting to the place we want to be." —

Individual winners

Vault • Kailah Delaney (Utah) 9.975

Uneven bars • Georgia Dabritz (Utah) 10.0

Balance beam • Kari Lee (Utah) 9.95

Floor • Corrie Lothrop (Utah) 9.925

All-Around • Tory Wilson (Utah) 39.55