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Humbled Ute gymnasts will try to turn their loss to Cal into a positive

Lennie Mahler | The Salt Lake Tribune Co-head coach Megan Marsden observes the Red Rocks as they warm up on the uneven bars in a meet against Oregon State, West Virginia and SUU at the Huntsman Center, Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013. The Red Rocks edged the competition with a final score of 196.950, followed by Oregon State with a score of 195.950.

Utah’s gymnastics team likes to think it learns a lesson or makes an improvement in its regular season meets that will help it in the postseason. Currently, the fourth-ranked Utes get to stew on the fact that a good performance by them just isn’t good enough to guarantee a win.

The Utes are on a bye this week with their next competition being March 10 at Michigan. Getting over their upset at Cal on Sunday and resting those who compete a lot are at the top of the agenda for this week.

“We tried to explain Cal was an improving team but sometimes it’s hard for a team to feel that,” Utah coach Megan Marsden said. “For whatever reason, they didn’t have it in their heads and they just weren’t as sharp. They weren’t awful, but they didn’t put the exclamation points on the end of their routines.”

So if anything the Utes will go into their bye a bit humbled.

“I don’t think it will be all bad to have that taste of a loss in their mouth for two weeks,” Marsden said. “It was a fun ride and a high after the UCLA win, but things didn’t go so well at Cal and maybe it will help them build the fire going toward the end of the year.”

Gymnasts who compete a lot, such as MyKayla Skinner, MaKenna Merrell-Giles and others, will get some downtime, while others who are trying to break into the lineup will get more work this week, Marsden said.

Marlowe to be honored

Former gymnast Missy Marlowe will be one of 12 athletes inducted into the Pac-12 Hall of Honor March 9 at the Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament in Las Vegas.

This marks the first year since the creation of the event in 2002 that athletes from sports other than basketball are being recognized.

As a senior in 1992, Marlowe became the first gymnast in history to win the Honda Broderick Cup, which recognizes the nation’s best collegiate female athlete. Marlowe won five individual NCAA titles during her career at Utah and was a member of the 1988 Olympic team.

“I’m thrilled that she is representing our athletics department,” Marsden said. “That this is the first year other sports are recognized makes it special too.”

In the rankings

This is the first week the rankings use the Regional Qualifying Score, a formula that takes the best six scores, including two road scores, then eliminates the high and low and averages the rest.

Despite the switch, there wasn’t too much change at the top. Oklahoma maintains its No. 1 ranking with an RQS of 197.855 followed by UCLA (197.61), LSU (197.545), Utah (197.415) and Florida (197.25).

Brigham Young checked in at No. 24 with a 195.655 RQS and Southern Utah was just out of the Top 25 at No. 28 (195.485). Utah State is No. 38 (195.15).

The Utes are tied with UCLA for third on the vault (49.395), sixth on the bars (49.295), fifth on the beam (49.275) and second on the floor (49.485). LSU moved ahead of the Utes on floor with a 49.49 RQS.

Skinner is third in the all-around (39.6), second on the vault (9.925), 10th on the uneven bars (9.905) and tied for third with several gymnasts, including teammate Merrell-Giles, with a 9.93 RQS. Merrell-Giles is sixth (39.535) in the all-around and ninth on the vault (9.895).

Around the state

BYU, which is coming off a 196.225-196.175 upset of Boise State, travels to Utah State on Friday. The Aggies, who earned a third place in a quad meet in Toledo, Ohio with a 195.325 on Friday, have a bit of work to do since 36 teams qualify for regionals, and the Aggies are two spots out. The Aggies have three regular season meets left, two at home and one at BYU, and the league conference championships. ... SUU hosts Washington on Saturday after beating Iowa 195.85-195.775 Friday.

NATIONAL RANKINGS<br>1. Oklahoma • 197.855<br>2. UCLA • 197.61<br>3. LSU • 197.545<br>4. Utah • 197.415<br>5. Florida * 197.25<br>6. Alabama • 196.85<br>7. Michigan • 196.8<br>8. Oregon State • 196.605<br>9. Kentucky • 196.56<br>10. Arkansas • 196.53<br>24. BYU • 105.655