Utah gymnastics bring 'comfortable confidence' to nationals


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SALT LAKE CITY — The Red Rocks will have the same mentality they’ve had all season when they compete for the national championship: doing their best and not worrying about their competitors.

“On the meet day, it’s important we exude an attitude and confidence about us,” said co-head coach Megan Marsden. “It’s important our girls aren’t afraid to strut their stuff and move in a way that looks confident and aggressive.”

Utah’s rotation order for Friday’s semifinal is beam, bye, floor, vault, bye, bars. The Red Rocks scored season-lows on bars (49.075) and beam (48.625) at the Berkeley regional.

“I’m comfortable with the rotation order. It seems like we start or end on beam almost every year. This is the same old, same old. Fans consider it the dreaded event, but teams and athletes know you have to do all four events and do well. It doesn’t matter what order it comes. It’s about getting in the right mode when it’s time for that event,” said Marsden.

It’s a huge accomplishment being the only team to qualify for every national championship since the 1975-76 season. Utah gymnastics is looking forward to competing against some of the best teams in the country in Friday’s semifinal — Florida, UCLA, Georgia, Michigan and Stanford.

Utah acknowledges that any team can advance to the Super Six. Four of the six teams to ever win an NCAA women’s gymnastics championship — Georgia (10), Utah (9 NCAA, 10 total), Florida (2) and UCLA (6) — are in its semifinal. The Utes also competed against every team in the first semifinal this season except Florida.

Marsden said second-ranked Florida is a team to always watch out for. It is the two-time defending champion, sharing the 2014 title with Oklahoma after both teams set a record 198.175 final score. The Gators also scored 197.475 at the Morgantown Regional, placing first.

The Utah coach adds sixth-ranked Michigan to the watch list.

“(They) hung right with us throughout the year in rankings. We know they’re excellent. When they came to our senior night, they made it a very close meet,” Marsden said, recalling Utah’s season-high 198.25-197.675 victory.

Michigan (197.0) is the runner-up to Columbus regional champion UCLA (197.5), which has drastically improved throughout the season. Utah competed against the seventh-ranked Bruins twice — in the regular season and at the Pac-12 championships — claiming a victory both times.

“They started to score big 197s at the end of the year, where we were doing more of that consistently. I feel like they’re a new team to be reckoned with as one of the top contenders. They’re a team that can win,” said Marsden.

Another team that Marsden believes is peaking at the right time is 10th-ranked Georgia. The Gym Dogs are the only team to defeat Utah this season. They did so in the last regular season meet, ending the Red Rocks' undefeated season, and in the Berkeley regional.

“They’re coming out strong down the stretch,” Marsden said of the team, which started the season struggling with falls.

Eleven-ranked Stanford is also a team on the rise. It scored a mere 0.475 less than Florida in the Morgantown regional. Like UCLA, Utah defeated the Cardinal during the regular season and Pac-12 championships.

With a packed semifinal, the Utah coaches are trying to support a relaxed atmosphere. They’ll make sure preparations for the big meet are similar to previous competitions. It helps calm any nerves the gymnasts might have, bringing a “comfortable confidence.”

“Any of the teams in our session could be the top three teams. That’s where you want to be. It’ll depend on who that night gets on a roll and has the least amount of mistakes,” said Marsden.

Marsden explained that competing in the earlier session allows teams to have more recovery time. If a team qualifies for the Super Six, it will compete Saturday night. Having those extra hours, according to Marsden, lets the team eat at a normal hour, recover with massages and cold tubs, and go to bed at a normal time.

“If we can do a good job on Friday and qualify into Super Six, there’s a big advantage to having the afternoon session,” said Marsden.

The top three teams of each semifinal will advance to the Super Six on Saturday. Any Ute who places in the top four on an event Friday will qualify into event finals Sunday.

Friday’s semifinal sessions will stream live on NCAA.com. Utah will begin competition at noon MDT. The Super Six takes place Saturday at 5 p.m. MDT. Individual finals will begin Sunday at 1 p.m. MDT. Both Saturday and Sunday’s events will broadcast live on ESPN3.

ESPNU will re-air the championship finals April 29 — Super Six at 5 p.m. MDT and individual events at 7 p.m. MDT.

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