Well, go figure.
Utah’s gymnastics team enjoys its biggest win of the season, and falls a spot in the national rankings — to No. 4. It’s Utes’ lowest ranking all season.
How did that happen? Thank, or blame, LSU. The Tigers moved into second place with a 197.481average behind top-ranked Oklahoma (197.638) while UCLA slipped to third with a 197.357 average.
The Tigers made the jump by earning 198.075 and 198.175 in their last two meets. Oklahoma and Florida are the only other teams to break the 198 mark.Oklahoma has done so three times and Florida once, against the Sooners.
Utah coach Megan Marsden acknowledged that the Utes, who beat UCLA 197.55-197.425 Sunday, might have to change their goal of scoring at least 197 since 198 now looks like the benchmark. UCLA had three stepouts on floor that helped the Utes win, but Utah had some uncharacteristic breaks too.
UTAH AT CALIFORNIA<br>When • Sunday, noon MST<br>TV • Pac-12 Network
“I feel like we left a lot of room for improvement,” she said. “We weren’t perfect but we could have come out of that meet thinking we hadn’t done enough for the win.”
Most probably thought the Utes hadn’t done enough, until UCLA had it’s mistakes and the Utes nailed beam.
“This is a gritty team and they learned a lot of lessons, that it isn’t over and you have to keep fighting,” Marsden said. “You never know what the other team is going to do.”
Getting better
Barring any major issues, it appears Kari Lee is now a fixture in the all-around lineup.
Lee became an all-arounder three weeks ago when she joined the floor lineup against Washington. She scored a 39.375 in that meet in the all-around, then followed it with a 39.425 against Arizona State. She earned a career best 39.5 against the Bruins, going 9.9 on the vault, 9.825 on the uneven bars, 9.875 on the balance beam and 9.9 on the floor.
Lee’s journey back to the all-around has been a long one since the junior didn’t perform on the floor until late last year as she recovered from an Achilles’ tendon tear she suffered in 2016. She then suffered a severely sprained ankle at the end of 2017 that limited her in the post-season.
No worries
The only major break the Utes had in their floor effort against UCLA came from freshman Sydney Soloski, who missed last week’s meet against Arizona State after breaking her nose in practice. She fell on her third pass and scored just 9.175. Soloski had earned 9.9 or higher in the last three meets.
Utah co-coach Tom Farden said he wasn’t too worried about the mistake, noting Soloski’s practices had been limited due to the injury.
“She’ll be back in the gym working hard this week,” he said.
In the rankings
Utah is second on the vault (49.411), sixth on the uneven bars (49.279), seventh on the balance beam (49.175) and first on the floor (49.464). MyKayla Skinner is second in the all-around (39.6), fourth on the vault (9.921) and eighth on the floor (9.918). MaKenna Merrell-Giles is 10th in the all-around (39.436), sixth on the vault (9.896) and fourth on the floor (9.936).
Around the state
Brigham Young’s tough schedule continues this week as the Cougars host the Boise State Broncos on Friday. BYU scored a 196.625 in a win over Southern Utah (196.075) and Denver (195.975). The Cougars’ score was their highest since 2005 and avenged an earlier loss to SUU in Cedar City. Utah State, which suffered a 196.875-194.9 loss to Boise State, competes in a quad meet in Toledo, Ohio on Friday against Bowling Green, Denver and Michigan. SUU competes at Iowa on Friday.
NATIONAL RANKINGS<br>1. Oklahoma • 197.638<br>2. LSU • 197.481<br>3. UCLA • 197.357<br>4. Utah • 197.329<br>5. Florida • 197.1<br>6. Michigan • 196.593<br>7. Alabama • 196.539<br>8. Oregon St. • 196.442<br>9. Kentucky • 196.329<br>10. Washington • 196.314<br>18. BYU • 195.779