Completed Event: Gymnastics versus NCAA Championship Final on April 19, 2025 , , 4th of 4 (197.2375)
Final Score
Gymnastics
4th of 4 (197.2375)
vs NCAA Championship Final
Saturday, April 21
St. Louis, MO
5:00 PM
University of Utah
vs
NCAA Championships - Super Six
Gymnasts Place Fifth at NCAA Championships
4/21/2018 8:38 PM | Gymnastics
Utes dug a deep hole early and strong finish was not enough.
ST. LOUIS—The Utah gymnastics team couldn't recover from a rocky start and finished fifth at the NCAA Championships in Chaifetz Arena. The Utes posted season lows on their first two events—floor and vault—to seal their fate. UCLA won the championship with a 198.075, followed by Oklahoma (198.0375), Florida (197.8500), LSU (197.8375), Utah (196.9000) and Nebraska (196.8000).
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If there was a silver lining to the meet, it was that the Utes finished strong—passing Nebraska for fifth place on the final routine of the night. After all five of her teammates hit their beam routines, it was left on MyKayla Skinner to make up a .0875 deficit to the Huskers. As she has so many times, Skinner produced. After sticking her double back dismount to finish a marvelous routine, Skinner received a 9.925 and pushed the Utes into fifth place.
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Utah also finished fifth a year ago at the NCAA Championships in a near repeat performance, including their rotation order.
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"It was déjà vu starting on the floor exercise and shooting ourselves in the foot," said Ute co-head coach Tom Farden. "We improved some on vault but at halftime I said, 'Just be yourselves. We don't know who is putting pressure on you, but it's not us (coaches).' When we came out of the bye, our performance on bars and beam were what we should have done on the other events.
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"While we are disappointed that we didn't do our best tonight, we are honored to be in the final Super Six," continued Farden. "The talent in the NCAA is amazing and just getting here is tough. We're not satisfied though and are working hard to make that next step."
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For the first time all season, beam was Utah's highest scoring event with MaKenna Merrell-Giles (9.8875) and Missy Reinstadtler (9.8750) contributing big scores along with Skinner.
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Skinner, who led Utah's scorers on every event--receiving a 9.8625 on vault, 9.9125 on bars, 9.925 on beam and 9.925 on floor--once again made it through a season without a fall … or even a near fall. She is believed to be the only NCAA gymnast in history to hit 110 consecutive routines without a fall. She is 54 of 54 this season and 110 of 110 in her two-year career.
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"It didn't turn out how we wanted," said Skinner. "Without those mistakes (on floor), we would have done a lot better but we went out and relaxed on the last two events. When we do our routines the way we can, we are amazing. This was a learning experience and will push us harder for next season."
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Merrell-Giles blamed the bad start on "trying too hard," saying, "We pressed too much and tried too hard to be perfect instead of having fun and competing how we train every day. On bars and beam, we settled down and did our gymnastics."
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The Utes' first event was eerily similar to a year ago when they also opened with a jittery floor set. Only Sydney Soloski (9.8625) and Skinner (9.925) scored near their season average. The 49.1875 team score was a season low on floor. After one full rotation by all six teams, the standings were LSU 49.4750, UCLA 49.4625, Oklahoma 49.4250, Florida 49.4125, UCLA 49.4625, Utah 49.1875 and Nebraska 48.8250.
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Utah's woes continued into round two, where the only Ute who stuck her vault landing was Kari Lee (9.8375). Skinner's 9.8625 score again led Utah, which posted another season event low with a 49.075. The Utes went to the bye room while the rest of the field finished completing two rotations. The halftime scores were Oklahoma 99.0125, Florida 98.9500, LSU 98.8625, UCLA 98.6875, Utah 98.2625 and Nebraska 98.1000.
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The Utes showed some spark coming out of the bye room and their last five competitors scored a 9.80 or better, led by Skinner's 9.9125 at the end. The team's 49.2875 total, however, was barely enough to keep the Utes in fifth place ahead of a resurgent Nebraska. The three event totals were Oklahoma 148.5000, Florida 148.2875, LSU 148.3750, UCLA 148.3250, Utah 147.5500 and Nebraska 147.5000.
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The Huskers passed the Utes for the first time of the meet during the final rotation when they scored a 49.300 on vault. Utah still had three competitors left when the Huskers finished, but there was no sign of the nerves that consumed the Utes on floor and vault.
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"We're going to keep looking for ways to compete with confidence on every event on the national stage," said Farden. "We'll keep our chins high and we are excited about the future."
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Utah competed just eight gymnasts for most of the season and will return 20 of 24 routines next season. Seniors making their final appearance were Maddy Stover, who scored a 9.8375 on beam, and Tiffani Lewis, who concluded her career with a 9.7875 on vault, 9.775 on bars and 9.7375 on floor. Erika Muhaw will also graduate this year.
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If there was a silver lining to the meet, it was that the Utes finished strong—passing Nebraska for fifth place on the final routine of the night. After all five of her teammates hit their beam routines, it was left on MyKayla Skinner to make up a .0875 deficit to the Huskers. As she has so many times, Skinner produced. After sticking her double back dismount to finish a marvelous routine, Skinner received a 9.925 and pushed the Utes into fifth place.
Â
Utah also finished fifth a year ago at the NCAA Championships in a near repeat performance, including their rotation order.
Â
"It was déjà vu starting on the floor exercise and shooting ourselves in the foot," said Ute co-head coach Tom Farden. "We improved some on vault but at halftime I said, 'Just be yourselves. We don't know who is putting pressure on you, but it's not us (coaches).' When we came out of the bye, our performance on bars and beam were what we should have done on the other events.
Â
"While we are disappointed that we didn't do our best tonight, we are honored to be in the final Super Six," continued Farden. "The talent in the NCAA is amazing and just getting here is tough. We're not satisfied though and are working hard to make that next step."
Â
For the first time all season, beam was Utah's highest scoring event with MaKenna Merrell-Giles (9.8875) and Missy Reinstadtler (9.8750) contributing big scores along with Skinner.
Â
Skinner, who led Utah's scorers on every event--receiving a 9.8625 on vault, 9.9125 on bars, 9.925 on beam and 9.925 on floor--once again made it through a season without a fall … or even a near fall. She is believed to be the only NCAA gymnast in history to hit 110 consecutive routines without a fall. She is 54 of 54 this season and 110 of 110 in her two-year career.
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"It didn't turn out how we wanted," said Skinner. "Without those mistakes (on floor), we would have done a lot better but we went out and relaxed on the last two events. When we do our routines the way we can, we are amazing. This was a learning experience and will push us harder for next season."
Â
Merrell-Giles blamed the bad start on "trying too hard," saying, "We pressed too much and tried too hard to be perfect instead of having fun and competing how we train every day. On bars and beam, we settled down and did our gymnastics."
Â
The Utes' first event was eerily similar to a year ago when they also opened with a jittery floor set. Only Sydney Soloski (9.8625) and Skinner (9.925) scored near their season average. The 49.1875 team score was a season low on floor. After one full rotation by all six teams, the standings were LSU 49.4750, UCLA 49.4625, Oklahoma 49.4250, Florida 49.4125, UCLA 49.4625, Utah 49.1875 and Nebraska 48.8250.
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Utah's woes continued into round two, where the only Ute who stuck her vault landing was Kari Lee (9.8375). Skinner's 9.8625 score again led Utah, which posted another season event low with a 49.075. The Utes went to the bye room while the rest of the field finished completing two rotations. The halftime scores were Oklahoma 99.0125, Florida 98.9500, LSU 98.8625, UCLA 98.6875, Utah 98.2625 and Nebraska 98.1000.
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The Utes showed some spark coming out of the bye room and their last five competitors scored a 9.80 or better, led by Skinner's 9.9125 at the end. The team's 49.2875 total, however, was barely enough to keep the Utes in fifth place ahead of a resurgent Nebraska. The three event totals were Oklahoma 148.5000, Florida 148.2875, LSU 148.3750, UCLA 148.3250, Utah 147.5500 and Nebraska 147.5000.
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The Huskers passed the Utes for the first time of the meet during the final rotation when they scored a 49.300 on vault. Utah still had three competitors left when the Huskers finished, but there was no sign of the nerves that consumed the Utes on floor and vault.
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"We're going to keep looking for ways to compete with confidence on every event on the national stage," said Farden. "We'll keep our chins high and we are excited about the future."
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Utah competed just eight gymnasts for most of the season and will return 20 of 24 routines next season. Seniors making their final appearance were Maddy Stover, who scored a 9.8375 on beam, and Tiffani Lewis, who concluded her career with a 9.7875 on vault, 9.775 on bars and 9.7375 on floor. Erika Muhaw will also graduate this year.
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