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The University of Utah Athletics
Ute Gymnasts Advance to NCAA Super Six
4/20/2018 9:31 PM | Gymnastics
MyKayla Skinner wins vault and places second all-around
ST. LOUIS, Mo.—With a Super Six berth at stake and less than two tenths of a point separating them from California, the Utah gymnasts unleashed a furious floor set to clinch third place and a trip to their 21st Super Six. Utah's 49.4625 floor score—the second best of the night—brought its total tally to 197.1375. Finishing ahead of the Utes were two-time defending NCAA champion Oklahoma (198.050) and Florida (197.5875). Failing to advance out of the evening semifinal were Cal (196.500), Washington (196.25) and Kentucky (196.0625).
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Leading the charge into what will be the final Super Six (the format changes next year) was sophomore sensation MyKayla Skinner, who won her second NCAA individual title in two years, tying for first place on the vault with a 9.9375, and winning her second NCAA all-around silver with a 39.725. Skinner's vault title, which she shared with Florida's Alex McMurty and Oklahoma's Brenna Dowell, adds to last year's floor exercise title.
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Utah's big night on floor opened with a 9.875 from senior Tiffani Lewis, featured a 9.9125 from Sydney Soloski in the middle of the lineup and a 9.9375 from Skinner at the end. Locked in a tight battle with California after an off night on the beam, the Utes pulled away on floor for the final spread.
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Oddly enough, a routine with an error may have extended Utah's season another day. After MaKenna Merrell-Giles fell from the No. 2 position on beam, Soloski—competing for just her fourth time on the event—scored a 9.750. Kari Lee was next up and she looked like she would suffer the same fate as Merrell-Giles, only to stay on board for a 9.725. Had Lee fallen, even the 9.8635 from Reinstadtler and Skinner's 9.925 would not have been enough.
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"That was sheer willpower by Kari Lee to stay on that beam after a technical error on an aerial and she did not give up another tenth after that," said a relieved Farden. "After Kari kept us in it, Missy set up MyKayla brilliantly and MyKayla was perfect.
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Skinner looked perfect all night, earning first-team All-America status in the all-around, vault, beam and floor and making the All-America second team on bars. In addition to tying first on vault and placing second overall in the all-around (across both sessions), Skinner was second in the second semifinal on beam (9.925), tied for third on floor (9.9375) and tied for fifth on bars (9.925). Making the NCAA All-America team for the first time were Reinstadlter in the all-around (39.400) and Soloski on floor (9.9125)—both second teamers. Reinstadlter's all-around score tied for eighth in the session, while Soloski's floor score placed her seventh in the evening semifinal.
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Utah opened the meet by scoring a 49.2250 on the vault in a set highlighted by Skinner's golden 9.9375 and 9.85s from Lee and Merrell-Giles. The Utes then took their first bye of the night. When they returned, all six teams had competed on at least one event for these one-rotation scores: Florida 49.475, Oklahoma 49.3750, Washington 49.2625, Utah 49.2250, California 48.9875 and Kentucky 48.6000.
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Out of their first bye, the Utes turned in a nice 49.3375 bar set that featured a 9.925 by Skinner and a 9.875 from Merrell-Giles. It was enough to move the Utes up one place and into third at the midway point: Oklahoma 98.9625, Florida 98.7875, Utah 98.5625, California 98.2125, Washington 98.0625 and Kentucky 97.5875.
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"We were about as good as we can be on both bars and floor," said Farden, "But we pressed too much on vault and beam. The good news is we never gave up."
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After Utah's struggles on beam, their lead over Cal became extremely tenuous with the three-event standings looking like this: Oklahoma 148.4375, Florida 148.1000, Utah 147.6750, California 147.5000, Washington 147.0625 and Kentucky 146.8125.
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But the Utes would come out of their final bye blazing to live to compete another day.
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Advancing out of the afternoon semifinal were UCLA (197.5625), LSU (197.4750) and Nebraska (197.0125). Tomorrow's Super Six will start at 6 p.m. CT (5 p.m. MT) and will be televised on ESPNU and streamed live on ESPN.com.
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Ute Notes
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Leading the charge into what will be the final Super Six (the format changes next year) was sophomore sensation MyKayla Skinner, who won her second NCAA individual title in two years, tying for first place on the vault with a 9.9375, and winning her second NCAA all-around silver with a 39.725. Skinner's vault title, which she shared with Florida's Alex McMurty and Oklahoma's Brenna Dowell, adds to last year's floor exercise title.
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Utah's big night on floor opened with a 9.875 from senior Tiffani Lewis, featured a 9.9125 from Sydney Soloski in the middle of the lineup and a 9.9375 from Skinner at the end. Locked in a tight battle with California after an off night on the beam, the Utes pulled away on floor for the final spread.
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Oddly enough, a routine with an error may have extended Utah's season another day. After MaKenna Merrell-Giles fell from the No. 2 position on beam, Soloski—competing for just her fourth time on the event—scored a 9.750. Kari Lee was next up and she looked like she would suffer the same fate as Merrell-Giles, only to stay on board for a 9.725. Had Lee fallen, even the 9.8635 from Reinstadtler and Skinner's 9.925 would not have been enough.
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"That was sheer willpower by Kari Lee to stay on that beam after a technical error on an aerial and she did not give up another tenth after that," said a relieved Farden. "After Kari kept us in it, Missy set up MyKayla brilliantly and MyKayla was perfect.
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Skinner looked perfect all night, earning first-team All-America status in the all-around, vault, beam and floor and making the All-America second team on bars. In addition to tying first on vault and placing second overall in the all-around (across both sessions), Skinner was second in the second semifinal on beam (9.925), tied for third on floor (9.9375) and tied for fifth on bars (9.925). Making the NCAA All-America team for the first time were Reinstadlter in the all-around (39.400) and Soloski on floor (9.9125)—both second teamers. Reinstadlter's all-around score tied for eighth in the session, while Soloski's floor score placed her seventh in the evening semifinal.
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Utah opened the meet by scoring a 49.2250 on the vault in a set highlighted by Skinner's golden 9.9375 and 9.85s from Lee and Merrell-Giles. The Utes then took their first bye of the night. When they returned, all six teams had competed on at least one event for these one-rotation scores: Florida 49.475, Oklahoma 49.3750, Washington 49.2625, Utah 49.2250, California 48.9875 and Kentucky 48.6000.
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Out of their first bye, the Utes turned in a nice 49.3375 bar set that featured a 9.925 by Skinner and a 9.875 from Merrell-Giles. It was enough to move the Utes up one place and into third at the midway point: Oklahoma 98.9625, Florida 98.7875, Utah 98.5625, California 98.2125, Washington 98.0625 and Kentucky 97.5875.
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"We were about as good as we can be on both bars and floor," said Farden, "But we pressed too much on vault and beam. The good news is we never gave up."
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After Utah's struggles on beam, their lead over Cal became extremely tenuous with the three-event standings looking like this: Oklahoma 148.4375, Florida 148.1000, Utah 147.6750, California 147.5000, Washington 147.0625 and Kentucky 146.8125.
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But the Utes would come out of their final bye blazing to live to compete another day.
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Advancing out of the afternoon semifinal were UCLA (197.5625), LSU (197.4750) and Nebraska (197.0125). Tomorrow's Super Six will start at 6 p.m. CT (5 p.m. MT) and will be televised on ESPNU and streamed live on ESPN.com.
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Ute Notes
- Utah has made 21 of the 26 Super Six finals (format began in 1993).
- Sophomore MyKayla Skinner is a two-time NCAA individual champion (floor in 2017 and vault in 2018) and the two-time NCAA runner-up (2017 and 2018).
- Skinner has won 18 career All-America awards in her first two seasons: Nine at the NCAA Championships and nine regular season.
- Skinner has hit 50-of-50 routines without a fall this season and all 106 of her career routines (believed to be the longest streak of consecutive hit routines in NCAA history).
- Utah's first event in the Super Six will be the floor, followed by vault, bars, beam and a bye, the same rotation as it had at last year's Super Six.
Players Mentioned
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