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The University of Utah Athletics
Ute Gymnasts Finish Sixth in NCAA Championship Semifinal
4/15/2016 12:00 AM | Gymnastics
April 15, 2016
FORT WORTH, Texas -
Photo Gallery, NCAA Semifinal, Apr. 15, 2016
Relative inexperience finally caught up to the Utah gymnastics team, which finished sixth in its NCAA Championship semifinal and ninth of 12 teams overall after crashing to earth on the balance beam.
Utah finished with a season-low 195.7625 to place behind Oklahoma (197.7875), Alabama (197.3875), UCLA (196.7000), California (195.8500) and Nebraska (195.7750). The Utes scored higher than three teams in the afternoon semifinal (Stanford, Auburn and Minnesota).
Until their meltdown on beam, Utah had exceeded expectations all season after losing a star-studded senior class that led the Utes to a runner-up finish in this same arena a year ago.
On this night, the Utes not only didn't resemble last year's team, they looked nothing like themselves just two weeks earlier at the NCAA Regional Championship, which they won handily after hitting 24 of 24 routines and scoring a 197.125. Heading into the 2016 NCAA Championships, Utah was ranked No. 5 in the country and boasted an overall record of 19-2-1.
Utah's struggles were epitomized by senior Breanna Hughes. After spending three seasons as a role player in the shadows of a class that featured three Pac-12 all-around champions and an NCAA champion, Hughes developed into one of the country's finest all-arounders in 2016. But the 2016 Pac-12 and regional all-around champion, struggled on both bars (9.7125) and beam (9.4875), although her other two events were among Utah's best: a 9.8875 on vault and a 9.85 on floor.
The evening's high points were podium finishes from senior Kassandra Lopez, who tied for fourth across both semis on bars with a 9.90 and junior Baely Rowe, who tied for seventh on beam, also with a 9.90. Lopez tied for second place on bars in semifinal 2 and was accorded first-team All-America status, while Rowe, tied for fifth in semi 2, is a second-team All-American on beam. Rowe was also a second-team All-American in the all-around, placing sixth in the evening semifinal with a 39.3875, and freshman Sabrina Schwab won second-team All-America honors on bars, tying for eighth-place (9.875).
Lopez and Rowe are both two-time All-Americans (Lopez was second team on bars in 2015) and Schwab earned her first award.
Utah got off to a decent start on its first two rotations, sitting in fourth place with room to move up--trailing third-place UCLA by just two and a quarter tenths of a point and 0.4625 out of first place.
Awarded the "home" rotation by a random draw, Utah opened with a 49.100 on vault, highlighted by Hughes' 9.8875, Kailah Delaney's 9.8375 and a 9.80 from Tiffani Lewis. After vault, Utah went to its first bye of the night, while Alabama and Oklahoma joined the fray. After one complete rotation, the standings were Oklahoma 49.4500, Alabama 49.3125, UCLA 49.2375, Utah 49.100, Cal 49.075 and Nebraska 48.9625.
On their return to action, Utah scored a 49.2875 on bars, led by Lopez's 9.90 and Schwab's 9.875 in her first routine at an NCAA Championship. Samantha Partyka opened the set with a 9.85. The midpoint standings were: Oklahoma 98.8500, Alabama 98.6125, UCLA 98.6000, Utah 98.3875, Nebraska 98.0125, Cal 97.9500.
But Utah would experience a nightmarish beam set to dash any hopes of sliding into the Super Six. Partyka and Delaney fell as the first two competitors and Hughes stumbled backwards badly on her dismount. To their credit, the final three competitors went for broke, with Lopez scoring a 9.8, Baely Rowe ripping off a 9.90 and Maddy Stover a 9.8125.
Going into their final bye rotation after beam, coach Tom Farden told the team, "I told them what's done is done. We have one more event. Let's show some pride and go out and attack it. And we did. We had a great floor set," said Farden.
"We had a great season overall and a rough night tonight," Farden continued. "I feel especially bad for the seniors since they don't get another shot at it."
Seniors Hughes, Lopez and Delaney leave a legacy that includes two Pac-12 team championships, an NCAA runner-up finish in 2015 , four NCAA Championship appearances, a combined 10 All-America awards (five by Hughes, three by Delaney and two by Lopez) and one Pac-12 all-around championship (Hughes).
Semifinal 1 Scores:
1. Florida 197.47502. LSU 197.33753. Georgia 196.72504. Stanford 195.57505. Auburn 195.10006. Minnesota 194.9875
Semifinal 2 Scores:
1. Oklahoma 197.78752. Alabama 197.38753. UCLA 196.70004. California 195.85005. Nebraska 195.77506. Utah 195.7625
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Gymnastics Media Availability | Pre-NCAA Championships
Wednesday, April 15
Utah: 197.500 | Ala.: 197.225 | OSU: 196.375 | DU: 195.950 | Gymnastics Post-Meet Press Conference
Saturday, April 04
Utah: 197.400 vs. UCLA: 197.850 | Gymnastics Post-Meet Press Conference
Sunday, March 15
Utah: 197.650 vs. BYU: 196.550, West Virginia: 195.300 | Gymnastics Post-Meet Press Conference
Sunday, March 08