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University of Utah gymnast MyKayla Skinner forever will be known as the sixth member of the Final Five. In Saturday night's reunion with one of those 2016 U.S. Olympic team stars, Skinner stood alone — with her Ute teammates.

Skinner, an alternate in Rio de Janeiro last August, beat UCLA's Madison Kocian in three of four events to remain unbeaten in all-around competition as a freshman with a 39.675 total. The No. 5 Utes scored a season-high 197.875 to top No. 4 UCLA's 197.5 in front of 15,558 fans at the Huntsman Center.

Skinner's 9.95 score on the floor clinched Utah's victory as she evoked cheers for her routine, boos for the judges and joy in the final result. Some fans earlier booed the Bruins' scores and UCLA coach Valorie Kondos Field criticized the crowd's behavior in the latest episode of college gymnastics' biggest rivalry.

The fans were into this thing, that's for sure. The Utes needed a showing like this after last weekend's loss at Oregon State, and Skinner and her teammates delivered.

Skinner wouldn't play along with any suggestion that she was motivated to beat Kocian, one of the USA gymnasts chosen ahead of her in the gold medal-winning lineup. "Not at all," she said. "I just want to do the job I'm supposed to do for the team."

That's what impressed Ute co-head coach Tom Farden. "She didn't let some of the external things that came into play really affect her," he said. "She went out and did her gymnastics. … She really showed the command she has over these routines. I thought she was brilliant."

Like her fans, Skinner wanted a 10 for her floor routine — settling for a 9.95 mark. "Hopefully, I can get it one of these times," she said.

UCLA's Kyla Ross, a 2012 Olympian, scored the meet's only 10 on bars. The Bruins tried to rally in the final rotation with a strong beam showing, but the Utes held them off with MaKenna Merrell, Baely Rowe and Skinner coming through on the floor.

Since arriving on campus in the middle of the fall semester, enrolling in accelerated classes and catching up in gymnastics, Skinner has blended in well by "being willing to come in and work like a dog," said Ute co-coach Megan Marsden. "I give MyKayla a lot of credit, but I also give our team a lot of credit under the circumstances."

Skinner's teammates have welcomed her, even though she missed team-building activities and other preparation for the season. And she has responded well to the Utes' environment. The coaches knew "we were getting an incredible athlete," Marsden said. But would she become a team player in an individual sport? Apparently so.

"I love college; it's been a blast," Skinner said before a recent practice. The team element was "kind of different at first … but it's just so much better than elite [gymnastics]. I just have so much more fun."

Skinner performed brilliantly in the Olympics Trials in July, but national team coordinator Martha Karolyi and her committee chose Kocian and Gabby Douglas over Skinner, whose weakest event is bars. The Americans clearly would have won the gold medal with Skinner, but Karolyi's selection was unassailable, because Kocian and Douglas did well on bars in the team final (Kocian earned a silver medal in the individual event).

The three alternates were relegated to watching the others compete in Rio, after training in a gym where a rat once came through the floorboards. Even so, the Olympics were "definitely the coolest experience ever," Skinner said.

Looking back, she figures her near-miss of greatness was "just supposed to happen." And here at Utah, she's performing like an Olympic champion.

kkragthorpe@sltrib.com Twitter: @tribkurt