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Ute Gymnasts Open Season Friday vs. BYU
12/31/2017 7:44 AM | Gymnastics
Deseret Duel Rivalry meet is a Red Out
This Week in Utah Gymnastics
The preseason No. 5-ranked Utah gymnasts (0-0, 0-0 Pac-12) kick off their 2018 season with the annual Deseret Dual Rivalry against BYU (0-0, 0-0 MRGC) on Friday, Jan. 5 at 7 p.m. in the Huntsman Center. The meet is a "Red Out" and fans are encouraged to wear red attire. Tickets may be purchased at UtahTickets.com and by calling 801-581-UTIX. The meet will be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks and will be broadcast on ESPN 700 radio. Live scores can be found at UtahUtes.com.
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Quick Sticks
For the first time in school history, Utah's home meets, as well as all postseason meets, will be broadcast live on the school's flagship radio station ESPN 700. Mike Lageschulte will call the play by play with former Utah All-American and NCAA champion Georgia Dabritz providing the color commentary … Utah became the first school in the country to top 9,000 season gymnastics tickets with more than 9,200 sold prior to the semester break. The ticket count breaks Utah's previous record of 8,763 set last year when the Utes averaged an NCAA gymnastics record 15,224 fans to their home meets. Single-meet tickets are now on sale … The Utes were ranked fifth in the preseason National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches (NACGC) coaches' poll, mirroring their finish at the 2017 NCAA Championships. Utah was the highest ranked Pac-12 school in the national coaches' poll. See page 3 for the complete preseason top 25. The defending Pac-12 champion Utes were picked to finish second in the preseason Pac-12 coaches' poll.
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Fan Fun
In honor of the "Red Out," 15,000 red pom-poms will be distributed courtesy of the Deseret First Credit Union … The Kid Zone has moved to a new location between portals 13-15 near the northeast entrance and will open at 5:30 p.m. The Kid Zone features a balloon artist, face painter, poster-making station, life-sized Swoop bobble head and more … Season ticket holders may pick up their exclusive Pac-12 Champions Pennant Flag prior to the meet with the voucher included in their season ticket packet. Limit is one per ticket account.
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Winner Skinner
Sophomore MyKayla Skinner, the 2017 NCAA floor champion and all-around runner-up, won 43 event titles in her first season—the second most in a single season by a Ute. She won a school-record 12 of 14 possible all-around titles, including semifinal competition at the NCAA Championships, when she also took first on vault and floor. Skinner, the most decorated freshman in Pac-12 history a year ago when she set records for most Gymnast of the Week (7) and Freshman of the Week (6) awards, finished with eight All-America awards. She won the all-around, vault and floor at both the 2017 Pac-12 Championship and NCAA Regional Championship. Utah's MVP hit all 56 routines as a freshman while competing in the all-around in every meet.
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Chalk Talk
Making their Ute debut coaching this Friday will be assistant coach Robert Ladanyi and volunteer assistant coach Carly Dockendorf. Ladanyi, a 12-year NCAA veteran and three-time NCAA Region Co-Assistant Coach of the Year at Florida, has three NCAA champions and 45 All-Americans at Florida and Denver to his credit. He is coaching the vault and tumbling elements on floor. Dockendorf, a former All-America gymnast and pole-vaulter for Washington, oversees Utah's floor choreography and music. Utah has two gymnasts on its roster from the Provo area: junior MaKenna Merrell-Giles (Pleasant Grove) and sophomore Kim Tessen (Orem). Both trained at All-American Gymnastics during their club careers. Merrell's older sister Mickell was a BYU gymnast from 2008-12
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Lineup Look
Utah returns 10 letterwinners from last year's 12-member roster, including six All-Americans: MyKayla Skinner, Kari Lee, MaKenna Merrill-Giles, Tiffani Lewis, and Maddy Stover. Utah lost two gymnasts (both All-Americans) from last year's fifth-place NCAA and Pac-12 champion team: Baely Rowe and Sabrina Schwab … Projected to go all-around for the Utes are All-America all-arounders Skinner and Merrell-Giles, along with Missy Reinstadtler … Lee and Lewis will compete on three events, with Lee bidding to join the all-around lineup. Lee is challenging freshman Sydney Soloski for a place in the bar lineup … Kim Tessen, who has recovered from a season-ending injury, is pushing for starting spots on vault, bars and beam.
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Ute Insider
Freshmen Sydney Soloski and Alexia Burch have been training with the team since last summer, while walk-on Lauren Wong expects to join the team on Jan. 11. Wong has graduated a semester early from Salt Lake City's Skyline High School … Among the upgraded difficulty in this year's lineup is MyKayla Skinner's new flight combination on beam where she goes from a switch leg leap to a straddle jump to a tuck back.
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Series Shorts
Utah leads the series with BYU 95-2 including a 44-0 record at home … The Utes have won 37 straight against the Cougars since getting edged 196.050-195.975 in Provo in 1998 … For complete series results, see page 2.
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Scouting BYU
Coach: Guard Young (3rd season)
2017 NCAA Finish: DNQ
National Rank: NR
2017 Record: 0-0
Notes: BYU carries 24 gymnasts on its roster—nearly double Utah's 13-member roster … The Cougars have seven Utah natives on their roster … Friday's meet at Utah is also BYU's season opener.
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The preseason No. 5-ranked Utah gymnasts (0-0, 0-0 Pac-12) kick off their 2018 season with the annual Deseret Dual Rivalry against BYU (0-0, 0-0 MRGC) on Friday, Jan. 5 at 7 p.m. in the Huntsman Center. The meet is a "Red Out" and fans are encouraged to wear red attire. Tickets may be purchased at UtahTickets.com and by calling 801-581-UTIX. The meet will be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks and will be broadcast on ESPN 700 radio. Live scores can be found at UtahUtes.com.
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Quick Sticks
For the first time in school history, Utah's home meets, as well as all postseason meets, will be broadcast live on the school's flagship radio station ESPN 700. Mike Lageschulte will call the play by play with former Utah All-American and NCAA champion Georgia Dabritz providing the color commentary … Utah became the first school in the country to top 9,000 season gymnastics tickets with more than 9,200 sold prior to the semester break. The ticket count breaks Utah's previous record of 8,763 set last year when the Utes averaged an NCAA gymnastics record 15,224 fans to their home meets. Single-meet tickets are now on sale … The Utes were ranked fifth in the preseason National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches (NACGC) coaches' poll, mirroring their finish at the 2017 NCAA Championships. Utah was the highest ranked Pac-12 school in the national coaches' poll. See page 3 for the complete preseason top 25. The defending Pac-12 champion Utes were picked to finish second in the preseason Pac-12 coaches' poll.
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Fan Fun
In honor of the "Red Out," 15,000 red pom-poms will be distributed courtesy of the Deseret First Credit Union … The Kid Zone has moved to a new location between portals 13-15 near the northeast entrance and will open at 5:30 p.m. The Kid Zone features a balloon artist, face painter, poster-making station, life-sized Swoop bobble head and more … Season ticket holders may pick up their exclusive Pac-12 Champions Pennant Flag prior to the meet with the voucher included in their season ticket packet. Limit is one per ticket account.
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Winner Skinner
Sophomore MyKayla Skinner, the 2017 NCAA floor champion and all-around runner-up, won 43 event titles in her first season—the second most in a single season by a Ute. She won a school-record 12 of 14 possible all-around titles, including semifinal competition at the NCAA Championships, when she also took first on vault and floor. Skinner, the most decorated freshman in Pac-12 history a year ago when she set records for most Gymnast of the Week (7) and Freshman of the Week (6) awards, finished with eight All-America awards. She won the all-around, vault and floor at both the 2017 Pac-12 Championship and NCAA Regional Championship. Utah's MVP hit all 56 routines as a freshman while competing in the all-around in every meet.
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Chalk Talk
Making their Ute debut coaching this Friday will be assistant coach Robert Ladanyi and volunteer assistant coach Carly Dockendorf. Ladanyi, a 12-year NCAA veteran and three-time NCAA Region Co-Assistant Coach of the Year at Florida, has three NCAA champions and 45 All-Americans at Florida and Denver to his credit. He is coaching the vault and tumbling elements on floor. Dockendorf, a former All-America gymnast and pole-vaulter for Washington, oversees Utah's floor choreography and music. Utah has two gymnasts on its roster from the Provo area: junior MaKenna Merrell-Giles (Pleasant Grove) and sophomore Kim Tessen (Orem). Both trained at All-American Gymnastics during their club careers. Merrell's older sister Mickell was a BYU gymnast from 2008-12
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Lineup Look
Utah returns 10 letterwinners from last year's 12-member roster, including six All-Americans: MyKayla Skinner, Kari Lee, MaKenna Merrill-Giles, Tiffani Lewis, and Maddy Stover. Utah lost two gymnasts (both All-Americans) from last year's fifth-place NCAA and Pac-12 champion team: Baely Rowe and Sabrina Schwab … Projected to go all-around for the Utes are All-America all-arounders Skinner and Merrell-Giles, along with Missy Reinstadtler … Lee and Lewis will compete on three events, with Lee bidding to join the all-around lineup. Lee is challenging freshman Sydney Soloski for a place in the bar lineup … Kim Tessen, who has recovered from a season-ending injury, is pushing for starting spots on vault, bars and beam.
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Ute Insider
Freshmen Sydney Soloski and Alexia Burch have been training with the team since last summer, while walk-on Lauren Wong expects to join the team on Jan. 11. Wong has graduated a semester early from Salt Lake City's Skyline High School … Among the upgraded difficulty in this year's lineup is MyKayla Skinner's new flight combination on beam where she goes from a switch leg leap to a straddle jump to a tuck back.
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Series Shorts
Utah leads the series with BYU 95-2 including a 44-0 record at home … The Utes have won 37 straight against the Cougars since getting edged 196.050-195.975 in Provo in 1998 … For complete series results, see page 2.
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Scouting BYU
Coach: Guard Young (3rd season)
2017 NCAA Finish: DNQ
National Rank: NR
2017 Record: 0-0
Notes: BYU carries 24 gymnasts on its roster—nearly double Utah's 13-member roster … The Cougars have seven Utah natives on their roster … Friday's meet at Utah is also BYU's season opener.
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Players Mentioned
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