SALT LAKE CITY—Gymnastics season may be a month away, but Utah fans can get an early glimpse of their team in action on Friday, Dec. 7 at the 16th-annual Red Rocks Preview. The popular intra-squad meet starts at 7 p.m. in the Huntsman Center. Parking and admission are free and seating is general admission, allowing early-arriving fans to get their choice of seats. The doors will open at 5:30 p.m.
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The meet will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Networks and ESPN 700 radio. Joining ESPN 700 play-by-play announcer
Mike Lageschulte for her first season as color analyst is former Ute All-American
Maddy Stover.
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The first half of the Red Rocks Preview will run one event at a time with seven to eight gymnasts competing on vault before moving to bars. The team will split into two groups for beam and floor, with four to five gymnasts on each apparatus alternating routines.
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The Utes suffered a blow last Friday when freshman
Cammy Hall suffered a season-ending injury to her lower leg. Hall was projected to be a key contributor in the vault and floor lineups. Three other freshmen will make their competitive debut at the Red Rocks Preview—
Hunter Dula,
Cristal Isa and
Adrienne Randall.
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The Utes return 10 letterwinners and 20-of-24 routines from last year's team that placed fifth at the NCAA Championships. Junior two-time NCAA champion
MyKayla Skinner highlights a group of five returning All-Americans that also includes seniors
Kari Lee and
MaKenna Merrell-Giles, junior
Missy Reinstadtler and sophomore
Sydney Soloski.
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The first 2,000 fans in attendance will receive a free schedule magnet and the Ute gymnasts will host an autograph session at the conclusion of the meet with free posters of the 2019 team available. The Kid Zone will open at 5:30 p.m. and will feature Santa and Mrs. Claus, a live Red-Tailed Hawk, a poster-making station and life-sized Swoop bobble head.
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Fans can add to Utah's record-setting season ticket sales by visiting the
ticket office during the Red Rocks Preview. There are limited lower bowl seats still available and those seats will be marked. Utah's season ticket sales currently stand at 9,337, breaking the previous record of 9,236 set last year when the Ute gymnasts led all women's sports by averaging 15,139 fans a meet.
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Utah will open its regular season by hosting Penn State on Saturday, Jan. 5 at 4 p.m. in the Huntsman Center. It is the first meet of an exciting home schedule that features defending NCAA champion UCLA on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 1:30 p.m. Also visiting the Huntsman Center in 2019 are Arizona (Feb. 1), California (Feb. 9) and Michigan (Mar. 2). All but the Arizona meet are Saturday matinees.
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The Pac-12 Championship will also be held in the Salt Lake valley, with the Maverik Center in West Valley City hosting the meet on Mar. 23.
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