Utah’s gymnastics team felt the joy of scoring an upset win a week ago. On Sunday, the Utes felt the sting of an upset defeat.
The fourth-ranked Utes (8-2, 5-1) were upset by No. 21 California 197.5-197.45 Sunday at Cal.
It marked only the second time the Bears (7-4, 3-3) have beaten the Utes in 22 meetings. The first win was in the 2016 NCAA semifinals.
The Utes were without the full capacity of MyKayla Skinner as she sat out the floor and vault due to a sore ankle.
Freshman Alexia Burch competed in Skinner’s place and earned a 9.775 on vault and 9.85 on floor.
However, the Utes couldn’t make up for what was Cal’s best performance of the year.
The Bears, who were ranked just 17th national on the floor with a 49.143 average, earned a 49.525 on the event to come from behind and beat the Utes.
Toni-Ann Williams, Cal’s anchor on the floor, scored a 9.975 to clinch the meet.
Utah, ranked No. 1 on the floor, scored 49.45 on that event without any major breaks.
The Utes didn’t have any major breaks on the beam either, scoring a 49.325, but it wasn’t enough to hold on for the win.
Last week the Utes were tied with UCLA going into the final rotation and won the meet by earning a 49.4 on the beam while UCLA had three step-outs on the floor.
“College athletics is a cruel sport,” Utah coach Tom Farden said. “You experience all the highs and lows. But we were flat today. That falls on me and the other coaches.”
Williams won the all-around for Cal with a 39.7. Utah’s Missy Reinstadtler tied Cal’s Kyana George for second with a 39.5.
The Utes failed to hit 24 of 24 routines for the fourth meet in a row when Kari Lee fell on her uneven bars dismount. However, Farden didn’t blame that mistake, nor Skinner’s absence on two events, for the loss.
“We didn’t really get going until the second half of the meet; floor and beam were good, but we have to do better in the first two events. We just didn’t have that determination we had last week.”
Skinner scored 9.9 on the bars and 9.85 on the beam. Lee had a strong finish after her opening mistake, scoring 9.9 on the vault and beam and 9.8 on the floor.
Reinstadtler earned 9.875 on the vault and beam, 9.85 on the bars and 9.9 on the floor for her all-around effort.
The Utes have a week off before they finish their three-meet road swing with a competition at Michigan on March 10. Utah closes out the regular season on March 16 against Georgia.
Individual winners<br>Vault • Toni-Ann Williams (Cal), Kari Lee (Utah), Kim Tessen (Utah) 9.9<br>Uneven bars • Toni-Ann Williams (Cal), Nina Schank (Cal), Alma Kuc (Cal) 9.925<br>Balance beam • Toni-Ann Williams (Cal) and Kari Lee (Utah) 9.9<br>Floor • Toni-Ann Williams (Cal) 9.975<br>All-around • Toni-Ann Williams (Cal) 39.7<br>Storylines<br>In short • The Utes suffer their first loss in seven visits to Cal’s Haas Pavilion as the Bears score a season high to win.<br>Key moment • After Kari Lee suffers an uncharacteristic fall on her uneven bars landing, Kim Tessen gets the Utes back on track with a 9.9.<br>Key stat • Cal, ranked 17th on floor, beats the top-ranked Utes on that event, 49.525-49.45.