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Gymnastics: Red Rocks face big task in replacing Wilson

Gymnastics%3A+Red+Rocks+face+big+task+in+replacing+Wilson

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Moments after she tore her Achilles performing on floor Saturday evening, senior Tory Wilson was in the locker room getting treated, and unsurprising to her team, was cracking jokes. Wilson turned to team trainer Katherine Lorens and said, “Well, at least I went out with a bang.”

YOU MAY HAVE MISSED: RED ROCKS HEADING TO BERKELEY FOR REGIONALS

Now it’s up to her team to end the season the same, but they’ll have some awfully big shoes to fill.

So what are the Red Rocks going to be missing when they take the floor at Regionals next weekend?

Wilson won the Pac-12 vault championship last Saturday, scoring her second perfect 10.0 of the season. She was on pace for a top-three finish in the all-around — a title she won a season ago. She’s a multiple All-American and on Tuesday she was named a 1st-team All-Pac-12 all-arounder, for the third time in her career.

She’s also served as the vocal captain of the team, beaming with positivity and encouragement for her squad. Wilson won’t be easily replaced, but that’s the task that now faces the Utes as they continue their postseason journey.

“We have a number of people that we are looking at,” Utah co-head coach Greg Marsden said.

First and foremost is freshman Tiffany Lewis. Marsden said that Lewis could replace Wilson in as many as three events — vault, bars and floor. Lewis has competed four times this season on vault (with a season-best 9.850), five times on bars (9.875) and three times on floor (9.800).

For comparison Wilson’s season high on vault is 10.00, on bars is 9.950 and floor is 9.950.

“Tory’s an amazing all-arounder and a senior so there is a little bit of pressure, but also a lot of confidence because we have prepared for every situation that might come up,” Lewis said. “I’m very excited for the opportunity. Whether it happened like this or not, it’s a great opportunity to get out there as a freshman and being able to have that experience throughout Regional and Nationals.”

Kailah Delaney is expected to take over Wilson’s spot on the beam. Delaney holds a season best 9.850 on the event, but has a career-high of 9.925, which matches Wilson’s career best.

“Greg brought it up after the meet on Saturday that people would have to step up and I am ready,” Delaney said. “Practices have been going great, especially for beam, so I am ready to be in the lineup again.”

Though those are the two gymnasts that are currently in the lead to feel in, the competition is far from over.

“I think there will be other people that will be challenging,” Marsden said. “I think Kari Lee could emerge as a spot on bars. Samantha Partyka, she really started slow because she had some issues with her back. She’s much healthier now and she’s really beginning to put it together on balance beam and floor. She’s almost ready on bars. So we have to begin to take a hard look at her as well.”

Lee has been a three-event star for the Red Rocks this season, notching five wins (three on vault, two on beam), but she has yet to compete on bars.

“Kari’s bar routine is coming along, so I’m not sure what they are going to do,” senior Corrie Lothrop said. “but she has been pretty consistent lately, so you never know.”

According to Lee, her routine is set on bars, but she has just been searching for more consistency on her dismount. The Utes have reworked it this season, and the time may finally come to unveil it.

“Greg told me to get my bars ready,” Lee said. “I’m feel pretty confident in [the new dismount]. It’s fairly easier, so mentally it’s a lot easier, body and mind.”

After seeing one of their leaders go down with what Marsden called “every gymnasts nightmare,” the Red Rocks are looking for anything that might ease their minds going forward.

“There’s a lot of fear in getting injured, but as an athlete you can’t think about that,” Lee said. “If you do, it will immobilize you and make you not perform at your best. So we try to think of all the positives, and there are a lot, but if you make a mistake or if you are thinking too much before a routine a tragedy could happen.”

Those negative thoughts were exactly what Lothrop was trying to help Wilson avoid before she began her floor exercise on Saturday. Before her routine, Wilson mentioned to Lothrop that her Achilles was feeling a little sore.

“You don’t want to hear that something bad is going to happen and I obviously didn’t think anything was going to happen, so I was like, ‘No, you’re fine, it’s just sore,’” Lothrop said.

Moments later Wilson was being carried off the mat, and the next morning Lothrop was asking for forgiveness

“There’s not much you can say, obviously it’s not my fault,” she said, “but I was like, ‘I told you it was going to be ok and it wasn’t.’

“It’s weird, Achilles are just freak accidents. You can never predict when it’s going to happen and it’s just such a shock, and we are all still kind of in shock still. But there’s no type of predictor. People are sore all the time and don’t tear their Achilles and people aren’t sore and don’t tear their achilles. It’s a going to go when it’s going to go type of thing.”

The Utes will be hard pressed to find the tenths of points that they’ll be losing with Wilson out, but they might miss her more in the locker room.

“She is such a positive spirit for us,” Marsden said. “She’s positive, upbeat, happy and brings everyone along with her in that way. We are going to need people to step up behind the scenes as well and provide some leadership. It’s definitely going to change the chemistry of the team, so it would be helpful if she is around as much as she feels like being here.”

So far, Wilson hasn’t stayed away. Just hours before her surgery on Monday, Wilson was present at the Dumke Gymnastics Center to watch the NCAA Regional selection show with her team still radiating optimism.

“She’s always been such a positive person,” Delaney said. “She still has a smile on her face, that’s what everybody loves about Tory. That’s why I always look up to her, and even when something like this happens she’s still so positive and still smiling.”

Marsden isn’t optimistic about the chances of Wilson traveling with the team to Berkeley for the Regional competition next weekend, but he is hopeful she can be there when the Utes head to Nationals.

“She just has a bright positive way of looking at the world,” Marsden said. “I’m sure she’ll make the best of this and move forward and accept it for what it is. There’s nothing left to do but move forward.”

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@millerjryan

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