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SALT LAKE CITY — In a quad meet against No. 7 Denver (6-1), No. 15 Boise State (4-2) and Illinois-Chicago (0-7), No. 5 Utah gymnastics (5-0) relied on clutch performances by its freshmen trio to continue its undefeated season.
The Red Rocks posted a season-high 197.625 Friday at the Huntsman Center, defeating Denver (196.875), Boise State (196.225) and Illinois-Chicago (193.250).
Utah’s freshmen electrified the arena, bringing 15,105 fans to their feet. MyKayla Skinner earned the fifth-best all-around score in program history (39.775). Kim Tessen scored career-bests on vault, bars and floor. Missy Reinstadtler also scored career-bests on beam and floor.
“There’s no greater teacher than experience,” said Utah co-head coach Tom Farden of the young team, which features lone senior Baely Rowe.
While Utah led the entire meet, it didn’t come without some mistakes.
In the first rotation, Reinstadtler fell forward while landing her vault — a less-than-ideal result for her first college routine. But Tessen, who overcame a sore throat and fever, followed with an exploding 9.90 performance.
“I wasn’t feeling 100 percentr tonight or this week,” admitted Tessen. “But I woke up this morning feeling determined. I told myself I was going to give it my all because I knew my team needed me.”
The rest of the lineup scored higher than 9.825, with Skinner anchoring the lineup with a 9.975, and gave Utah its season-best vault score.
Heading into the second rotation, Utah (49.425) was in a tight race. Denver wasn’t far behind the Utes with 49.275, followed by Boise State (49.050) and Illinois-Chicago (48.225).
Bars was the next event for Utah, where it again faced adversity. Tessen (9.850), MaKenna Merrell (9.825), Skinner (9.90) and Kari Lee (9.850) started the lineup with strong performances. Then Tiffani Lewis, who cut her toe open in a freak accident during practice earlier in the week, earned a 9.70 from the judges, who thought she clipped the bar. The Utes had no room for mistakes with Denver inching toward them. But as if it was no problem, Rowe tied a personal-best 9.950 and sealed a team season-high 49.375.
“I’ve been really working on my swing in practice,” said Rowe. “Tonight, I was calm and collective. I swung bars like in practice.”
Halfway through the meet, Utah continued to lead with its 98.800 score. Denver continued its chase with a score of 98.400. Boise State (97.950) and Illinois-Chicago (96.125) were in third and fourth place, respectively.
The Red Rocks competed on beam in the third rotation and again scored a season-best 49.425. In the first spot of the lineup, Merrell uncharacteristically fell off the beam. It gave Utah no room for error. But in a perfectly, redeeming fashion, Reinstadtler nailed her beam debut. Her 9.850 routine motivated the rest of the lineup to compete like they do in practice.
“That was great for Missy to step up for the first time and nail her routine. That started us off and got us going again,” said Rowe.
Skinner (9.925), Maddy Stover (9.825), Lee (9.90) and Rowe (9.925) finished the set to boost the Utes’ 148.225 lead ahead of Denver (147.525), Boise State (147.050) and Illinois-Chicago (144.775).
With their lead extended to seven-tenths of a point entering the last rotation, the new Red Rocks floor lineup wowed the judges and crowd, earning another season-best 49.400. This time there were no mistakes by the Utes. However, Skinner narrowly missed a perfect 10.0 score again and settled for her second 9.975 of the night.
“Floor has always been my favorite event because I can show off my personality. I cannot express the words of how amazing it is to be out there and having my team with me,” said Skinner.
“She was dialed in. She’s getting more comfortable in her surroundings. She’s starting to hit her stride,” Farden added.
Macey Roberts (9.825) got the Utes off to a fiery start on the event, followed by Tessen (9.825), Rowe (9.900), Reinstadtler (9.875), and Skinner.
Next for Utah is a Pac-12 opening meet at Washington Saturday, Jan. 28 at 2:30 p.m. MST.
