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The University of Utah Athletics
Saturday, April 15
St. Louis, Mo.
7:00 PM
University of Utah
at
NCAA Championships - Super Six
Gymnasts Place Fifth at NCAA Championships
4/15/2017 11:06 PM | Gymnastics
ST. LOUIS—While there were no miracle comebacks for the Ute gymnasts tonight, the young team with just one senior gritted out a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championship. Oklahoma won its third national title with a 198.3875, followed by LSU 197.7375, Florida 197.700, UCLA 197.2625, Utah 196.5875 and Alabama 196.000.
"Our gymnasts competed their hearts out tonight. We are so proud of our fifth-place finish considering everything we've dealt with this year," said Ute co-head coach Tom Farden, referring injuries to three significant contributors. "It was a great learning experience for us, given our youth, and it was great to be back in the Super Six after a year away."
Utah's lone senior, Baely Rowe, had a bittersweet finish to a magnificent career. Her 9.90 bar routine boosted Utah to its best event score of the night—a 49.3125. Rowe, who expanded her All-America portfolio to six awards by earning first-team status on the floor exercise and second-team recognition in the all-around during semifinal action yesterday, did not fare as well on her final routine. Consistently among the nation's best on beam, Rowe suffered a rare fall.
"Baely has been an exceptional "beamer" for us her entire career and has been a great team leader for us in her role as a captain," praised co-head coach Megan Marsden. "Baely knows that fall does not define her career and what she has meant to our success." Besides, added Marsden, "It gave (sophomore) Shannon McNatt a chance to succeed under pressure, which she had not faced before." McNatt's 9.7625 score as the final performer proved the difference between fifth and sixth place for the Utes.
Utah never quite clicked on every cylinder, but improved as the meet progressed. The Utes' 196.5875 score—their third lowest of the season—was not a result of counting a fall (Utah was 23-of-24 in hit routines), but rather steps out of bounds by two gymnasts on floor and the failure to stick some landings.
"We came out with too much adrenaline on floor," said Farden. "After how well we did last night in the semis yesterday, it took a little wind out of our sails, but we went on to have a pretty good vault and our bar set was great."
By the time Utah rotated to beam, the best the Utes could do was hang on to fifth place ahead of Alabama, which they did with another strong showing from everyone but Rowe.
MyKayla Skinner capped a phenomenal freshman year by posting a 39.550 in the all-around and going the entire season without a fall. Skinner, who competed all-around in every meet—winning a school-record 12 all-around titles—hit 56-of-56 routines. While she failed to win an event title for the first time all season (she won 43 titles prior, which ranks second all-time at Utah), she had Utah's highest scores on vault (9.8875), beam (9.8875) and floor (9.925). Her 39.550 all-around score was the best by a Pac-12 gymnast and kept her undefeated in the all-around against Pac-12 competition in her first collegiate season.
"MyKayla has passed the point of unbelievable," said Farden. "Even on the biggest stage, she never showed signs of pressure."
Her routine 9.925 was the highlight of Utah's first event, the floor exercise. With one rotation under its belt, Utah was in fourth place despite the out of bounds calls on Tiffani Lewis and MaKenna Merrell.
In round two, Utah's vaults had great amplitude and distance, but the Utes left some tenths on the mat by failing to stick some landings. The best landings—and results—came from Lewis (9.8375) and Skinner (9.8875). The Utes headed into their first bye of the night after a respectable 49.0625 vault effort. When they came out of the bye room, they had slid a spot into fifth with these two-event standings: Oklahoma 99.2875, Florida 98.800, LSU 98.625, UCLA 98.4375, Utah 98.125 and Alabama 97.5125.
Utah's best event came immediately after its by—a 49.3125 bar set highlighted by Rowe's 9.90 and a 9.875 from Merrell. After three full rotations, the standings were: Oklahoma 148.9, Florida 148.1625, LSU 148.0125, UCLA 147.9250, Utah 147.4375, Alabama 146.8375.
On beam, Utah cranked out a series of scores above a 9.80 through its first four competitors, led by a 9.8875 from Skinner and a 9.85 from freshman Missy Reinstadtler.
"Our gymnasts competed their hearts out tonight. We are so proud of our fifth-place finish considering everything we've dealt with this year," said Ute co-head coach Tom Farden, referring injuries to three significant contributors. "It was a great learning experience for us, given our youth, and it was great to be back in the Super Six after a year away."
Utah's lone senior, Baely Rowe, had a bittersweet finish to a magnificent career. Her 9.90 bar routine boosted Utah to its best event score of the night—a 49.3125. Rowe, who expanded her All-America portfolio to six awards by earning first-team status on the floor exercise and second-team recognition in the all-around during semifinal action yesterday, did not fare as well on her final routine. Consistently among the nation's best on beam, Rowe suffered a rare fall.
"Baely has been an exceptional "beamer" for us her entire career and has been a great team leader for us in her role as a captain," praised co-head coach Megan Marsden. "Baely knows that fall does not define her career and what she has meant to our success." Besides, added Marsden, "It gave (sophomore) Shannon McNatt a chance to succeed under pressure, which she had not faced before." McNatt's 9.7625 score as the final performer proved the difference between fifth and sixth place for the Utes.
Utah never quite clicked on every cylinder, but improved as the meet progressed. The Utes' 196.5875 score—their third lowest of the season—was not a result of counting a fall (Utah was 23-of-24 in hit routines), but rather steps out of bounds by two gymnasts on floor and the failure to stick some landings.
"We came out with too much adrenaline on floor," said Farden. "After how well we did last night in the semis yesterday, it took a little wind out of our sails, but we went on to have a pretty good vault and our bar set was great."
By the time Utah rotated to beam, the best the Utes could do was hang on to fifth place ahead of Alabama, which they did with another strong showing from everyone but Rowe.
MyKayla Skinner capped a phenomenal freshman year by posting a 39.550 in the all-around and going the entire season without a fall. Skinner, who competed all-around in every meet—winning a school-record 12 all-around titles—hit 56-of-56 routines. While she failed to win an event title for the first time all season (she won 43 titles prior, which ranks second all-time at Utah), she had Utah's highest scores on vault (9.8875), beam (9.8875) and floor (9.925). Her 39.550 all-around score was the best by a Pac-12 gymnast and kept her undefeated in the all-around against Pac-12 competition in her first collegiate season.
"MyKayla has passed the point of unbelievable," said Farden. "Even on the biggest stage, she never showed signs of pressure."
Her routine 9.925 was the highlight of Utah's first event, the floor exercise. With one rotation under its belt, Utah was in fourth place despite the out of bounds calls on Tiffani Lewis and MaKenna Merrell.
In round two, Utah's vaults had great amplitude and distance, but the Utes left some tenths on the mat by failing to stick some landings. The best landings—and results—came from Lewis (9.8375) and Skinner (9.8875). The Utes headed into their first bye of the night after a respectable 49.0625 vault effort. When they came out of the bye room, they had slid a spot into fifth with these two-event standings: Oklahoma 99.2875, Florida 98.800, LSU 98.625, UCLA 98.4375, Utah 98.125 and Alabama 97.5125.
Utah's best event came immediately after its by—a 49.3125 bar set highlighted by Rowe's 9.90 and a 9.875 from Merrell. After three full rotations, the standings were: Oklahoma 148.9, Florida 148.1625, LSU 148.0125, UCLA 147.9250, Utah 147.4375, Alabama 146.8375.
On beam, Utah cranked out a series of scores above a 9.80 through its first four competitors, led by a 9.8875 from Skinner and a 9.85 from freshman Missy Reinstadtler.
Players Mentioned
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