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SALT LAKE CITY - 1995 was a great year in film with the Toy Story franchise starting and thus Pixar launches into peoples' lives, Houston had a problem with "Apollo 13," and Brad Pitt was after a serial killer in "Seven."
The NBA saw a couple nice young stars come in the league with Kevin Garnett and Greg Ostertag. Well at least one of those two panned out. Names like Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, and Steve Nash weren't in the league yet.
Ute gymnast Tory Wilson would have celebrated her first birthday in 1995. Time sure does fly. Well for the Utah gymnastics program that time has to have been agonizing for the ten time national champs. 1995 was the last year Utah won the national title in women's gymnastics. In the past almost two decades UCLA and Georgia have shared a bulk of the national titles.
It's not like the program has been in the dumps, as most Ute fans know. Over that time Utah has been 2nd four times (with three consecutive 2006-08), third three times, and in the Super Six every season except two since '95. There has been individual success over the years with individual titles coming at the hands of Ashley Postell, Kristina Baskett, Theresa Kulikowski, Angie Leonard, and Summer Reid. The individual titles aren't as high as Georgia's or UCLA's, but still there is some victories mixed in over the years. So far this season it appears to me that this very young Red Rocks squad is hungry and primed to make a run.
A season ago virtually this same squad had low expectations relative to what Utah gymnastics is used to, because of so much youth and turnover the team had be dealt with. Early on in the season the anchor for the team, Kyndal Robarts, went down with a knee injury.
With so few upper class men last year, step up had to then freshmen Mary Beth Lofgren, Corrie Lothrop, Nansy Damianova, and Victoria Shanley among others. Not to mention, with Utah gymnastics, the schedule was always rigorous with meets against the likes of Georgia, UCLA, Florida, Nebraska, and others. These young girls had to step up in big situations and mature on the fly. They started out on fire starting the year 7-1 with wins over Georgia, UCLA, Michigan, and Nebraska. The freshmen also got some honors last year. Corrie Lothrop and Mary Beth Lofgren both received All-American honors. Nansy Damianova was regional co-champ on vault and floor.
Those experiences in 2010-11 are now starting to show even more in 2011-12, not to mention a new mix of young talent has the future looking even brighter. The current Red Rock squad is anchored by very experienced senior leadership with Stephanie McAllister, Kyndal Robarts, and Cortni Beers. McAllister and Beers are both without a fall so far this year and McAllister is ranked 8th on bars (with Corrie Lothrop) and 7th on floor.
McAllister and, now sophomore, Corrie Lothrop have both won three times with each having an all around title to their credit. More new and talented freshmen have added even more depth to this Utah team. Kailah Delaney and Georgia Dabritz have both been excellent this year. Dabritz leads the team with four victories and is ranked 2nd on the floor while Delaney is ranked 4th on the vault while being the high scorer for the Utes in all three meets.
With a nice leadership base with the seniors, last year's young group, mixed with this year's young contributing group, a nice championship stew is in the works. With 11 of the 15 members of this team being sophomores or freshmen, there is a major foundation in place for serious post season success.
The next test in line for these young ladies is the much hated Georgia Gymdogs. The rivalry with Georgia may be the hottest for the Red Rocks, it's been bred through intense competition and disappointing losses; mainly losing three consecutive national championships to them in a three year span. This year's edition of the rivalry will take place at the Huntsman Center where up to 15,000 of Utah's closest friends will give Utah a home gym advantage and the best home gym advantage in the country.
As this young season has progressed there have been signs of possibly something special on the horizon. The Utes lost the opening meet to UCLA after really struggling but put themselves in a position to win later on in the meet with some great performances. Against BYU, Utah had gymnasts hit season highs in multiple areas and landed a good enough overall score to vault the Utes to a number one ranking in the country.
The first number one ranking they have held since 2009.
There is one trend the team wants to follow. In 1995, the last year they won a title, they beat Georgia in the fourth meet of the season. In 2012 they have the same opportunity. The matchup between the two Top 5 teams may set up the rest of the season.
And for these young Utes, maybe more.
Shane Roberts is a producer/writer for the U Fan Cast on TheUFanCast.com, a Utah-centric podcast that gives a voice to the fan. Twitter: @Shane_U_FanC ast
