(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) MyKayla Skinner celebrates her performance on the beam as the No. 4 Utah gymnasts host No. 20 Georgia in the final regular season meet at Jon M Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City Friday, March 16, 2018.
Well talk about busting out of a losing streak in a big way. Utah’s fourth-ranked gymnastics team beat No. 20 Georgia with a season-best 198.15-196.35 effort in front of 15,208 fans at the Huntsman Center on Friday.
The effort not only broke Utah’s two-meet slump, but matched the fourth-highest score in school history. The Utes haven’t reached a 198.15 since the 2015 Pac-12 Championships. The program’s record is a 198.6 scored against Brigham Young in 2004.
MaKenna Merrell-Giles and MyKayla Skinner led the Utes in the win, with Merrell-Giles earning her first 10.0 on the floor and Skinner winning the all-around (39.725), uneven bars (9.925) and balance beam (9.95). Skinner’s all-around mark tied her season high and tied the seventh-highest effort in school history.
The Utes set season highs on all events except the vault.
“That was so fun,” Giles said. “Everything worked out perfectly.”
Utah’s effort was exactly what the team needed as it preps for the Pac-12 Championships next week in Tucson, Ariz., coach Tom Farden said. The Utes won the conference title in 2014, 2015 and 2017.
“It’s a huge confidence booster,” he said. “For the second meet in a row we hit 24-for-24 and did so even better than we did at Michigan. I’m pleased with where we are. I’m excited about the future and to see what happens.”
The Utes still had trouble sticking their vault landings just like they did in their recent losses, but were overall improved on the event, scoring 49.4. Farden credited leadoff gymnast Missy Reinstadtler’s 9.875 for setting the tone for the night while senior Tiffani Lewis posted a team high of 9.9.
From there the Utes grew stronger and stronger through the night, earning 49.45 on the uneven bars, 49.525 on the balance beam and 49.775 on the floor.
The balance beam effort, led by Skinner’s 9.95 and 9.925s from Reinstadtler and Merrell-Giles, was enough to give the Utes a comfortable 148.375-147.225 lead going into the final rotation.
There, Lewis set the team up for the big finish by earning a 9.975 in the leadoff spot. Freshman Sydney Soloski had a 9.925 while Merrell-Giles provided the highlight with her perfect effort.
Merrell-Giles earned her first 10.0 of her career on the vault earlier in the year.
“It feels like a normal routine until you get to the end,” Merrell-Giles said. “I’m glad I put it together because the last couple routines haven’t been the best.”
The only disappointment on floor was Skinner’s 9.975 as the crowd thought perhaps she might earn a perfect score as well. That Skinner hasn’t earned a 10.0 this season has almost become a running joke among the gymnasts because she is so consistently perfect in their estimation.
However, Skinner didn’t dwell on her near miss, choosing to focus on the team’s success.
“We wanted to get that 198,” she said. “We wanted to have that experience and have fun with it. We focused on the details and did everything we could to enjoy the moment.”