Skinner: Utah gymnastics is 'perfect fit,' lifelong dream


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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah gymnastics is where MyKayla Skinner has always wanted to be.

“I lived in Utah when I young for two years and would come to the University of Utah gymnastics meets,” said the 2016 USA gold-medal Olympic Team alternate. “I fell in love with it.”

And as much as Skinner wanted to be a part of the dynasty, Utah gymnastics wanted her just the same.

“We’ve put in many years on MyKayla,” said co-head coach Megan Marsden. “She didn’t spend much time looking around the country during the recruiting process and verbally committed to us in 2014.”

But Skinner had another dream to chase before competing as a Red Rock — the Olympics.

She deferred enrollment until 2016 to pursue her dream of competing in Rio. In the Olympic trials, Skinner finished fourth in the all-around. But despite finishing strong, she wasn’t selected to the final team.

Instead, USA coaches chose seventh- and eighth-place finishers Gabby Douglas, who had previous Olympic experience, and Madison Kocian, whose uneven bars skills were valued. Skinner was named as a team alternate and traveled to Rio as insurance should one of the five members become unable to compete.

“When she decided to defer, we supported the plan because that was her goal and it makes us better having an Olympian come into our program,” said Marsden. “We felt bad she didn’t get to compete in Rio, but at the same time she was amazing. She made us so proud in the Olympic trials.”

Utah coaches stayed a step back during Skinner’s quest for the Olympics as they didn’t want to “infringe or cause any trouble.”

“We worked with her mom a lot to get her prepared and enrolled in school. She was doing something very important and we didn’t want to bother her too much,” said Marsden.

However, the Utes made sure at least one coach was in the stands at all of Skinner’s meets during her chase for the Olympics, making sure the gymnast knew Utah supported her and was there on her behalf. It was Utah’s way of “quietly supporting” her, as Marsden puts it.

Once Skinner arrived on campus in October, she and the team got right to work.

Assistant coach Meredith Paulicivic and Marsden thought Skinner’s elite gymnastics floor music was “really dynamic” and a tune Utah fans would recognize.

“I told her if she wasn’t sick of it, that it’d be fun to keep it a year while it’s still fresh in people’s minds,” said Marsden, who’s happy Skinner agreed to keep it.

Skinner learned new skills since she had to take out some of her routines’ difficulty. In elite gymnastics, gymnasts are scored on their difficulty and how it’s executed. In college, gymnasts start at a 10.0 score and anything beyond that is a potential deduction if not perfectly performed.

Paulicivic and Marsden made a few changes in Skinner's floor exercise, getting rid of one difficult tumbling pass since she had four in her routine and some of the arm movements to make it more college-age appropriate.

As for Skinner’s other events, the coaches decided to water them down while keeping the skills she does well.

“On beam, I took out a few skills such as her dismount. She does a beautiful double back for us. In the elite world, she was doing that with a full twist, which is difficult to stick, and in college the stick is so critical,” said Marsden.

Skinner, who admits she was nervous when she got to campus, has transitioned nicely into the Red Rocks' program.

“At first I was scared because it was something different, but it’s so fun being here. I feel like it’s the perfect fit for me. It’s a great new journey I get to experience,” said Skinner.

It’s turning out to be a great fit for both Skinner and Utah gymnastics.

The freshman was named the Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week and Pac-12 Freshman of the Week after her first collegiate meet, and then again for her efforts last week. She’s won nine of 10 possible events in the season’s first two meets, sweeping all events and the all-around against BYU. Skinner also ranks on all events — No. 3 on floor, No. 4 in the all-around, No. 9 on vault, No. 14 on bars and No. 21 on beam.

“Skinner is a world-class athlete, and obviously we’re pleased she’s with us,” said co-head coach Tom Farden.

Skinner and the Red Rocks return to the Huntsman Center Friday, Jan. 20, at 7 p.m. MST to host No. 7 Denver (4-0), No. 15 Boise State (3-0) and Illinois-Chicago (0-4).

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