Utah’s gymnastics team found out it could handle competing on a podium setting Sunday. Now it gets to see how it handles a short week.
The Utes, who were edged by UCLA 197.2-196.975 on Sunday in Reno, host No. 25 Oregon State on Friday.
The schedule leaves the Utes with just two training days — Tuesday and Thursday — and Utah coach Megan Marsden doesn’t want to push the gymnasts too hard.
“We need to be careful with how much gymnastics we do and let them recover physically and emotionally,” Marsden said. “We don’t want to overdo their training.”
The good news is the Utes don’t have an urge to push thanks to their showing in Reno. Even though the Utes were edged by the Bruins, they feel good about their effort since they hit all 24 routines.
The main cleanup comes on the balance beam, where several Utes were given 9.9 start values because they missed some connections resulting in a 48.8. Those errors should be fairly easy to correct.
“The scores really didn’t reflect what we did on beam because I thought they had a better performance than the week before,” Marsden said, referring to the 48.975 the Utes earned in the season opener. “The judging just happened to be tighter, but it looks like they were consistently tight throughout the meet.”
Not in our house
The Utes participated in the quad meet because they wanted experience on the podium setting, which elevates the floor. The Utes can’t hold such a meet because there isn’t enough floor space in the Huntsman Center.
“It’s not even close,” Marsden said. “But in my opinion what makes it impossible for that makes our arena the best in the nation for meets because you feel like you are a part of the action because you are sitting right there. It’s an incredible setup.”
New face
The Utes welcome a new team member this week in Lauren Wong, a walk-on who graduated early from Salt Lake’s Skyline High School.
Wong is a three-time qualifier at the Level 10 regionals and placed fifth on the uneven bars and 10th in the all-around at the 2017 regionals.
Marsden said Wong already is fitting in with the team and could help the Utes in their uneven bars lineup.
“I’m not sure if we will use her in exhibition this weekend or wait, but it helps that she is local,” Marsden said. “She has watched meets forever in the Huntsman Center and knows how things are, so this transition is going really smooth.”
In the rankings
The Utes maintained their No. 2 ranking despite the loss Sunday since the rankings are based on score averages. BYU is tied with West Virginia at No. 18.
Utah is ranked No. 1 in the vault (49.375), third in the uneven bars (49.325), 18th in the balance beam (48.888) and second on the floor (49.45).
MyKayla Skinner is second in the all-around (39.587), fourth in the vault (9.912) and third on the bars (9.925), while teammate MaKenna Merrell-Giles is fourth on the floor (9.938).
Around the state
BYU, which upset California 196.025-194.35 on Friday, hosts Southern Utah at 11 a.m. Friday. SUU is coming off a 196.225-194.35 loss to Boise State.
Utah State, which lost to Bowling Green 194.825-192.975, hosts San Jose State and Sacramento State at 7 p.m. Friday.
TOP 25 <br>Team • Average <br>1. LSU • 197.25 <br>2. Utah • 196.988 <br>3. Michigan • 196.875 <br>4. UCLA • 196.725 <br>5. Kentucky • 196.513 <br>T-5. Florida • 196.513 <br>7. Denver • 196.288 <br>8. Boise State • 196.225 <br>9. Alabama • 196.1 <br>10. Arkansas • 195.938 <br>11. Arizona State • 195.575 <br>12. Nebraska • 195.55 <br>13. Washington • 195.538 <br>14. Central Michigan • 195.45 <br>15. Iowa State • 195.313 <br>16. Auburn • 195.288 <br>17. Arizona • 195.2 <br>18. West Virginia • 195.15 <br>T-18. BYU • 195.15 <br>20. Stanford • 195.138 <br>21. Illinois • 195.1 <br>22. Kent State • 195.05 <br>23. California • 194.913 <br>24. Missouri • 194.875 <br>25. Oregon State • 194.85