If you have ever been to a Utah gymnastics meet, you are probably used to having a routine of leaving campus for a few hours of rest, filling your stomach with food, then heading up to the Huntsman Center for the meet, usually later in the evening.
Having late meet times on Fridays or Saturdays have been a tradition of sorts for Utah gymnastics, and has been one of the main reasons they have some of the best atmospheres in college sports.
But the times are literally changing this Saturday, and a lot of Red Rocks fans are not happy about it.
Due to the issues that come along with Pac-12 television scheduling, the Red Rocks are hosting their first matinee meet in school history as they welcome Oregon State to town in a mid-afternoon blackout showdown. Unhappy fans are advised to arrive as early as 2:45 p.m. MST, which causes concern for many Utah fans and officials who fear the Huntsman Center won’t see its typical crowd for gymnastics meets.
Fans are also concerned about the gymnasts themselves, who feel that their usual pre-home meet routines will be changed dramatically – resulting in bad performances. But co-head coach Megan Marsden feels that the early meet time is not as bad as it seems to the fans. In fact, she prefers it.
“This [matinee meet] really doesn’t affect the team at all,” Marsden said. “The girls are anxious to have a meet at the same time their training period is at every day.”
The Red Rocks are taking the early meet time and using it to their advantage. Since the team trains around the same time every day during the week, the gymnasts are always in the mindset to compete and perform to their highest levels during these times. Usually, having meets at later times creates more pressure due to the amount of waiting, according to Marsden.
“They know at that time of day to flip and twist really well,” Marsden continued. “I think days where they have to fill their time before regular meet times at 6 or 7 p.m. is tougher on them. They are looking forward to having an earlier start time.”
What also comes with early meet times is also changes in routines and rituals for these Red Rock gymnasts, but it’s something co-senior team leader Breanna Hughes believes the team is used to. Hughes is excited to compete during a time of day when she has more energy. She’s also used to earlier times from past meetings and competing in club for so many years before her jump to college gymnastics.
“There isn’t really a huge difference for us,” Hughes said. “We just have to readjust a little bit and figure out what to do since there isn’t a lot of time. We’ve had earlier meets in past seasons, and in club you have meets at many different times of the day. We just have to adjust a little bit, but it’s not too bad.”
With both co-head coaches Marsden and Tom Farden looking forward to their gymnasts being in the right mindset during Saturday’s meet, they, as well as the whole team, hope their passionate home fans will also turn up in the early afternoon to continue to make the Huntsman Center one of the toughest venues for away teams to compete in.
“I think for all of us, we are hoping that our fans will be as excited for that start time as we are,” Marsden said. “We hope that they will be able to make an adjustment for this Saturday and come to a matinee.”
Utah’s blackout meet against the Beavers will be an exciting one, something that fans might want to consider changing their Saturday schedules for.
@chad_marquez