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Utah gymnastics coach Megan Marsden thought she had a fairly good handle on the mentality of the her team going into the 2017 season. But even as the competitive year winds down, she admits the Utes continue to surprise her.

The latest was the effort at the Fayetteville regional which the Utes won with a 197.15, despite having all-around competitor Kari Lee sideline on everything but the uneven bars due to a sprained ankle.

Shannon McNatt went in Lee's place on balance beam and scored 9.9 and MaKenna Merrell earned a 9.9 on the floor to help make up for Lee's absence.

Efforts such as those make Marsden hopeful the Utes can do well at the NCAA Championships on April 14-15 in St. Louis, even if the lineup is getting thin.

"This team is young but they have great tenacity," she said. "Rather than letting the injuries derail us, people are stepping in and taking the advantage of the opportunity to show their talents. This team has turned out to be deep and they are a group of fighters. They don't seem to let much of anything take them out of the equation."

That equation, Marsden hopes, includes a spot in the Super Six. To reach it, the fourth-ranked Utes must be in the top three of their session that also includes top-ranked and defending champion Oklahoma, sixth-ranked UCLA, seventh-ranked Denver, 11th-ranked Washington and 12th-ranked Oregon State.

The Utes have competed against all of those teams except Oklahoma, but Marsden said she knows what the Sooners can do.

"No question they are the team to beat," she said. "With the scoring and consistency they've had, it seems like it's going to be Oklahoma and a bunch of others shooting for the Super Six."

Utah junior Maddy Stover said the Utes liked competing against teams they've seen before, but past results weren't going to make the team relax too much.

"It's like the Pac-12s all over again," she said. "We usually back the Pac, but in this case they are our fierce competitors and we have to approach it like we want to come out on top and prove ourselves."

While Marsden is proud of the way the Utes responded in the regional competition, disappointment remains over Lee's injury because her availability for nationals is unknown.

The Utes might give her ankle a week to heal. The coaches already have made the decision to hold Lee out of the floor event at nationals with the hopes she could contribute on the other three events.

Lee, who tore her Achilles tendon last season, finally broke into the floor lineup in the last regular-season meet at Georgia and competed at the Pac-12 Championships.

"We want to get her back on bars, beam and vault," Marsden said. "MaKenna did a nice job on floor for us and we just don't want to take any chances with Kari." —

NCAA gymnastics championships

P April 14-15 at Chaifetz Arena, St. Louis TV • ESPN2 and ESPNU

April 14, 11 a.m. MT session

(Starting event next to team)

No. 1 Oklahoma (bye, floor)

No. 4 Utah (vault)

No. 6 UCLA (bye, bars)

No. 7 Denver (beam)

No. 11 Washington (bars)

No. 12 Oregon State (floor)

April 14, 6 p.m. MT session (Starting event next to team)

No. 2 LSU (bye, floor)

No. 3 Florida (vault)

No. 5 Michigan (bye, bars)

No. 8 Alabama (floor)

No. 9 Georgia (beam)

No. 10 Nebraska (bars)

Super Six

April 15, 7 p.m.