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She called her last performance at Huntsman Center "bittersweet," but nothing about Breanna Hughes' night was bitter.
The senior won her sixth individual all-around title of the season by taking top honors at the NCAA Regional meet on Saturday, pacing the Utes with 9.925 scores on the uneven bars and the floor. Guiding Utah to the regional win and its 41st straight nationals meet was a fitting tribute for Hughes' last night competing in Salt Lake City.
While there's still the NCAA championship ahead, she said it would be tough without hearing the roar of the hometown crowd, which stood up to applaud her when she was announced as the top all-around finisher.
"It's just like nothing else, where you have so much support from your fans and you have so many people who come every meet," she said. "It was a lot of mixed emotions."
But Hughes didn't show any emotional turmoil in her 39.525 performance, edging Southern Utah's Danielle Ramirez (39.400). Her routine to finish Utah's floor segment was a particular highlight, giving energy in Utah's lowest-scoring rotation.
She has now won all-around titles in four straight meets, a consistency that co-coach Tom Farden said shows in practice as well.
"What we see out there [in practice] is what we saw today," he said. "We try to narrow that range, between practice and competition, as much as possible."
While Southern Utah struggled to a sixth-place team finish, Ramirez was an undoubted highlight in qualifying for nationals as an all-around competitor. The junior's meet highlight was a 9.90 on the vault, which tied Utah's Kailah Delaney for the best score in the event.
With five individual titles this season, Ramirez is going to her first national meet. SUU coach Scott Bauman said by learning and perfecting a new routine on bars, she's elevated her game this season.
"She's been doing this for the last four or five meets in a row," he said. "The girl has just been getting better and better throughout the year."
Individually, UCLA's Christine Peng-Lee hit the top mark for bars (9.950), and the Bruins' Danusia Francis tied with Washington's Allison Northey to lead the beam (9.900). Illinois' Lizzy Leduc and UCLA's Sadiqua Bynum were the top finishers in floor (9.950).
Twitter: @kylegoon —
Top individual finishers
All-around • Breanna Hughes, Utah (39.525)
Vault • Danielle Ramirez, SUU and Kailah Delaney, Utah (9.90)
Uneven bars • Christine Peng-Lee, UCLA (9.950)
Floor • Lizzy Leduc, Illinois and Sadiqua Bynum, UCLA (9.950)
Balance beam • Allison Northey, Washington and Danusia Francis, UCLA (9.90)