The beam — it had to be the beam. In the last two national semifinals, the Red Rocks have been undone by the unfriendly four-inch apparatus, and their old nemesis was waiting for them on their first event of their semifinal session on Friday.
And for a moment it looked like it would be the Utes undoing, yet again.
Georgia Dabritz, going second in the Utes’ rotation, fell off and suddenly, just moments into their semifinal session, the Red Rocks were in trouble.
One more fall could cost Utah its third straight Super Six, but the beam didn’t win this time around.
The remaining four Utes all hit their routines to springboard a Utah performance that ended with Utah tied for first with Florida in the first national semifinal on Friday to clinch a spot in Saturday’s Super Six. It will be Utah’s first appearance in the national finals since 2012.
Kailah Delaney, Kari Lee, Baely Rowe and Corrie Lothrop weren’t necessarily spectacular on their beam routines following the fall (Lee, Delaney and Maddy Rowe, who led off for the Utes all tied for a team-high 9.85), but they didn’t have to be. With Utah’s strongest events to come, the gymnasts just needed to stay on the beam, and when they were able too, it put Utah in a good position.
After one rotation the Red Rocks were on the outside looking in, sitting in fourth, but only half of a point away from Michigan, and the session’s final spot. Oh, and they had an ace up their sleeve. The Utes were ending the meet on their best two events (vault and bars), they just needed to keep it close until then.
On floor, Dabritz rebounded from her fall to score a 9.925 and Lee continued her stellar meet with a 9.90, and the Utes jumped ahead of Michigan and into the third spot.
With vault and bars remaining, all Utah needed to do was hit its routines and it would be performing again on Saturday, but the Utes weren’t content on just getting through.
Dabritz, Lee, and Samantha Partyka all scored at or over 9.90 on vault, highlighted by Lee’s 9.950 performance, and after three events Utah extended its lead over fourth-place Michigan and inched closer to Florida and Stanford, the top two teams at the time..
Before the Utes headed to their final event, they had a bye and saw the Wolverines finish their meet with a 197.025 final score. Utah needed a 49.05 to tie the Wolverines, and the Utes lowest score on bars this season was a 49.075.
After just five gymnasts the Utes had already done enough to jump ahead of Michigan and assure themselves a spot in the Super Six, but they still saved the best for last.
Dabritz did something that Utah fans have grown quite accustomed to — she performed a perfect routine. The Utah senior scored a 10.00, which launched the Utes right past Stanford and into a tie with Florida for the session win.
The Super Six begins Saturday, at 5 p.m. MT.
@millerjryan