Utah gymnastics impress in preseason preview


11 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — The 2017 Utah gymnastics team impressed a record crowd of 6,115 fans in the annual Red Rocks Preview at the Huntsman Center Friday night.

“I’ve been here seven years and that was one of our best preseasons we’ve had,” said Utah co-head coach Tom Farden.

The intrasquad meet highlighted four all-around gymnasts, including senior Baely Rowe, sophomores MaKenna Merrell and Sabrina Schwab, and freshman MyKayla Skinner. Sophomore Kari Lee, who suffered a season-ending injury last year, returned to the competition floor in three events (beam, vault and bars).

“The anxiety was there,” Lee said. “But I was really ready to come back.”

Skinner also admitted she had nerves coming into the night, competing for the first time since placing fourth at the U.S. Olympic Trials in July.

“Nerves were coming back a little bit, but being out there with the girls was so fun,” Skinner said.

Despite feeling anxious, Lee and Skinner rocked their routines, especially on beam. In fact, the entire lineup did.

Utah has appeared to have become a beam team this offseason. Once an event that cost the Red Rocks the 2016 NCAA Championships, beam was the Utes’ strongest set in their preseason finale.

Merrell started the lineup with a nearly flawless routine. Next was Schwab, who displayed her flexibility on a stunning mount. Skinner stuck her dismount, collecting a roar of applause from fans. Maddy Stover, Lee and Rowe closed the set with fiery routines.

“That was incredible,” Farden said of the team’s beam effort. “I am so happy and impressed with them. That’s how they have done balance beam in practice. We always strive to compete like we practice and practice like we compete. It was a great beam set.”

Utah opened its night on vault, displaying three vaults from Merrell, Skinner and Schwab with 10.0-values. Last year, the team had just one.

Second for the team was bars, where freshman Kim Tessen got things going. She did well, followed by Merrell and Skinner. Junior Tiffani Lewis and Rowe had a strong showing before Lee came in swinging with a fantastic new routine.

“All I remember was sticking my dismount and putting my head back,” Lee said. “A couple of practices ago, I was having a rough time on my Jaegers. I went back and looked back at old videos. I told myself, ‘You’ve got this.’”

The night ended with a floor set that featured new choreography and energizing music that had the crowd clapping to the beat. Skinner and Schwab closed the night with phenomenal routines, leaving fans wanting more.

“I honestly think this night was amazing. I was very impressed with a lot of the younger athletes,” Rowe said. “They had calm, cool confidence throughout the entire meet. We’re a team to go after.”

“Their gymnastics spoke for itself,” added Farden. “We’re a young team. We have one senior, but we looked like we’re ready. That’s about as ready as we can be. We show depth at every event. In each event, it’s going to be a fight to get into lineups.”

The Red Rocks open their season hosting Michigan Saturday, Jan. 7 at 5 p.m. MST.

Photos

Most recent Sports stories

Related topics

Sports

ARE YOU GAME?

From first downs to buzzer beaters, get KSL.com’s top sports stories delivered to your inbox weekly.
By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

KSL Weather Forecast