As the Red Rocks stood in the tunnel prior to their meet against Michigan last Friday, a misty-eyed Kailah Delaney embraced Georgia Dabritz. The two came into the program together, but they won’t be leaving it side by side.
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“I swear I was crying more than [the seniors],” Delaney said. “It’s hard, I’ve gotten so close to all of those girls, so it was hard to watch their Senior Night and know that next year it’ll be different without them.”
The Utes are nowhere near done with this season. They have one more dual meet and then the Pac-12 Championships before regionals and an expected appearance in nationals. There is much to still be accomplished this year, but last Friday’s Senior Night celebration gave a reason to think about the future.
If all had gone right for Delaney, she would have walked out with the seniors against Michigan, surrounded by family and a bouquet of flowers in her hand, but it didn’t work out that way. In the fall of 2012, Delaney had knee surgery that forced her to redshirt her sophomore campaign.
“The hardest year for me was just to be on the sidelines and not being able to compete,” Delaney said. “I tried my best to stay positive and cheer on the girls, but it was a really hard year for me.”
The Utes stress the importance of living in the moment. Ask a Utah gymnast what’s going on with the other team across the gym and they will have no idea. The Red Rocks pay attention to each routine and each skill and not what’s going on around them. The Utah coaches also want their team to enjoy the college experience and not be worried about what they can’t control.
Delaney said that though her redshirt year was tough, it has helped her appreciate the small moments, and a lot of those instances have involved Dabritz.
“We lived in the dorms together our freshman year, and we were spending a lot of time together inside the gym, outside the gym, we were doing everything together,” Delaney said. “We’d go everywhere together, we just clicked from the very beginning.”
While she will be sad to see her friend finish her college career, her absence does open up more opportunity. Dabritz, Corrie Lothrop, Becky Tutka and Tory Wilson will leave big shoes to fill for the current underclassman.
“I have thought, ‘Yeah, it would be awesome to go out there and maybe do all-around,’ because I know it is a possibility,” Delaney said.
Another underclassman who appears to be in position for an all-around spot next season is freshman Kari Lee. The Arizona native has already secured a spot in three events and brought jubilation to her team and the crowd on Friday when she scored a 9.975 on beam.
“It was just excitement all over,” Lee said. “That night was emotional, and I was excited all night for the seniors and then everything kind of came together. It was fun out there.”
Next season will bring a lot of change for the Utes, that much is clear, but one thing the Red Rocks won’t have to get used to is not seeing Dabritz around.
Though her eligibility is done after this season, Dabritz is still a year away from graduating, and that’s something Delaney is happy about.
“She’ll be here every day,” Delaney said. “I was sad on Friday night, but I had to remind myself that she is still going to be around, and I’m still going to see her all the time.”
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