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, January 5
Salt Lake City, UT
4:00 PM
University of Utah
197.175
vs
194.450
Penn State
Photo by: Russ Isabella
Gymnasts Roar By Penn State 197.175-194.450
1/5/2019 8:15 PM | Gymnastics
Skinner, Merrell-Giles lead Utes to rout over Big Ten visitors.
SALT LAKE CITY—The No. 5 Utah gymnastics team ushered in 2019 with a bang, posting the third-best opening week score in the nation while steamrolling Penn State, 197.175-194.450. Led by MyKayla Skinner, who won three events and the all-around, and MaKenna Merrell-Giles, who won one event and picked up three silvers, Utah's 197.175 was its best opening day score since 2005. It was the third-best season-opening score ever for the Utes, who beat UCLA on the road in 2004 with a 197.350 and again at home in 2005 with a 197.675.
But the score also left the Utes wanting more after coming out sizzling on their first two events before fizzling a bit on beam and floor.
"Hitting a 197 in the first meet is a great start to the season," said co-head coach Tom Farden, while acknowledging, "It was a tale of two halves. We were great on vault and bars, but we need to continue to develop on beam where people got a little cautious. We also have some things on floor that we'll clean up in practice."
Skinner echoed his assessment. "We did a lot of good things, but we had a few mess ups, which is typical of the first meet." None of the "mess ups" were Skinner's however. An NCAA champion on vault and floor, she scored a 9.95 to win both events today. She scored another 9.95 to place first on bars and her winning 39.700 all-around score is tied for the eighth-best in school history.
Sidekick Merrell-Giles was all smiles after the meet. "It was a blast. We have been so ready for the season to start; it is just great it's finally here!" She opened her senior year by winning beam with a 9.90 and her three runner-up finishes included a 39.575 in the all-around.
Utah opened the meet by hitting six of six vaults, highlighted by Skinner's 9.95 and Merrell-Giles' 9.90. Kari Lee got the set off to a great start with a 9.875. After one event, Utah led Penn State 49.400-48.950.
As good as vault was, bars was even better for the Utes. Freshman Cristal Isa, a two-time Junior Olympic bar champion, showed she will star as a collegian too, scoring a 9.925 to take second place. Skinner followed with a 9.95 routine to win the event, acing her new release move (the Ray). After two events, Utah led Penn State 98.825-97.575.
Asked about the new element in Skinner's routine, Farden said, "Mickey is a trickster so you don't want her to get bored out there. She continues to challenge herself every year she is in college.
Added Skinner, "I like doing big skills. That's my thing."
She needed the big skills to edge out Isa's marvelous college bar debut. "The fact we put a freshman in the No. 5 spot shows that we know Cristal can get big scores," said Farsden.
Both teams had issues on the third rotation, especially Penn State, which had falls on its first three floor routines. Utah got off to a good start on beam with Merrell-Giles' 9.90 coming from the three position, but uncharacteristic mistakes from Missy Reinstadtler and Lee at the four and five positions kept Utah from scoring a 49.000 on the event.
Floor was also a bit of a mixed bag, even with the crowd enthusiastically responding to the new routines choreographed by volunteer coach BJ Das. Big scores from Macey Roberts (9.875) and Merrell-Giles (9.925) and Skinner (9.95) boosted Utah to a 49.375 on the event.
Meet Notes
* Aided by 9,830 season ticket customers (a new Utah and NCAA record), the meet drew 13,193 fans.
* Freshman Adrienne Randall tied for second on beam with a 9.85 in her college debut.
* Alexia Burch (9.800) and Macey Roberts (9.850) set or tied career vault highs.
* Senior Macey Roberts competed on two events (vault 9.85) and floor (9.875) for the first time since 2017.
* Cristal Isa was the only freshman to compete on multiple events, scoring a 9.825 on vault and a 9.925 on bars.
But the score also left the Utes wanting more after coming out sizzling on their first two events before fizzling a bit on beam and floor.
"Hitting a 197 in the first meet is a great start to the season," said co-head coach Tom Farden, while acknowledging, "It was a tale of two halves. We were great on vault and bars, but we need to continue to develop on beam where people got a little cautious. We also have some things on floor that we'll clean up in practice."
Skinner echoed his assessment. "We did a lot of good things, but we had a few mess ups, which is typical of the first meet." None of the "mess ups" were Skinner's however. An NCAA champion on vault and floor, she scored a 9.95 to win both events today. She scored another 9.95 to place first on bars and her winning 39.700 all-around score is tied for the eighth-best in school history.
Sidekick Merrell-Giles was all smiles after the meet. "It was a blast. We have been so ready for the season to start; it is just great it's finally here!" She opened her senior year by winning beam with a 9.90 and her three runner-up finishes included a 39.575 in the all-around.
Utah opened the meet by hitting six of six vaults, highlighted by Skinner's 9.95 and Merrell-Giles' 9.90. Kari Lee got the set off to a great start with a 9.875. After one event, Utah led Penn State 49.400-48.950.
As good as vault was, bars was even better for the Utes. Freshman Cristal Isa, a two-time Junior Olympic bar champion, showed she will star as a collegian too, scoring a 9.925 to take second place. Skinner followed with a 9.95 routine to win the event, acing her new release move (the Ray). After two events, Utah led Penn State 98.825-97.575.
Asked about the new element in Skinner's routine, Farden said, "Mickey is a trickster so you don't want her to get bored out there. She continues to challenge herself every year she is in college.
Added Skinner, "I like doing big skills. That's my thing."
She needed the big skills to edge out Isa's marvelous college bar debut. "The fact we put a freshman in the No. 5 spot shows that we know Cristal can get big scores," said Farsden.
Both teams had issues on the third rotation, especially Penn State, which had falls on its first three floor routines. Utah got off to a good start on beam with Merrell-Giles' 9.90 coming from the three position, but uncharacteristic mistakes from Missy Reinstadtler and Lee at the four and five positions kept Utah from scoring a 49.000 on the event.
Floor was also a bit of a mixed bag, even with the crowd enthusiastically responding to the new routines choreographed by volunteer coach BJ Das. Big scores from Macey Roberts (9.875) and Merrell-Giles (9.925) and Skinner (9.95) boosted Utah to a 49.375 on the event.
Meet Notes
* Aided by 9,830 season ticket customers (a new Utah and NCAA record), the meet drew 13,193 fans.
* Freshman Adrienne Randall tied for second on beam with a 9.85 in her college debut.
* Alexia Burch (9.800) and Macey Roberts (9.850) set or tied career vault highs.
* Senior Macey Roberts competed on two events (vault 9.85) and floor (9.875) for the first time since 2017.
* Cristal Isa was the only freshman to compete on multiple events, scoring a 9.825 on vault and a 9.925 on bars.
Players Mentioned
/ Gymnastics
/ Gymnastics
/ Gymnastics
/ Gymnastics
/ Gymnastics
/ Gymnastics
/ Gymnastics
/ Gymnastics
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