But it is hard, after nights like Friday when Utah posted a 197.750 in a win over Minnesota (194.100), not to wonder just how high a mark this Utah team can earn.

Sure, Utah's score was helped out by a set of judges who seemed eager to bestow the Utes with high marks, including a 10.0 to Ashley Postell on vault, but the way the Utes are competing this year it is easy to imagine more nights like Friday regardless of what the judges' mood might be.

"Easy," and "effortless" were the ways Utah's gymnasts described the win over the Gophers. Utah's score was the highest any team has posted this year. "We're all getting good scores all the time," Postell said.

With the Utes still working on their composition and adding more upgrades, could the 198 mark be within the Utes' reach? That is a score the Utes haven't earned since the 2004 season. Following the 2004 season, stricter judging codes were adopted that were supposed to create more separation between teams and make it harder to flirt with big marks.

It worked for a while, but this team is pushing the scoring limits. Utah didn't score above 197 in any meets last year. Now, it might be a disappointment if the current team doesn't regularly score above that mark, not that coach Greg Marsden wants his team to suddenly start obsessing over numbers. He'd rather the gymnasts keep focusing on improving the routines themselves rather than what the judges think of them.

"Every meet is different and we try not to depend on the scores too much," he said. "The thing I'm happiest about is we're getting better every week. That may not always be reflected in the scores depending on how the judging is."

Still, improvement and big numbers are coming together for this team as the Utes enjoy one of their best seasons in recent history.

"We have a lot of pieces to the puzzle we haven't had in the last few years," Marsden said. "We've had some of all this in the past, but not all together. We have a lot of difficulty, variety and a lot of depth. People are competing for spots on every event, but they're happy and together."

lwodraska@sltrib.com

Top 2008 scores

197.750 - Utah vs. Minnesota 197.550 - Georgia vs. LSU 197.125 - Florida vs. Illinois-Chicago 196.875 - Georgia vs. Stanford 196.85 - Georgia vs. Florida

Utah peaks

Utah's top scores since 2005:

197.850 vs. Wash., March 11, 2005 197.750 vs. Minnesota, Feb. 1, 2008 197.725 vs. Ariz. State, March 18, 2005 197.675 vs. UCLA, Jan. 7, 2005 197.500 vs. BYU, March 24, 2006