With Pac-12 competition officially underway, the No. 7 Utah Gymnastics team look to continue their unbeaten streak on Monday night when it welcomes No. 20 Arizona to the Huntsman Center.
The Red Rocks are hoping to overcome the loss of sophomore all-arounder Kari Lee, who is out for the rest of the season with an Achilles tear. Even though it’s a blow to the entire team, opportunities will rise for younger gymnasts to take her place.
The Wildcats want to continue to climb up in the rankings after their first loss of the season to UCLA and, like Utah, are in a transition period with a new coaching staff. Arizona knows competing against Utah isn’t always easy, but with the several setbacks the Red Rocks have already endured, this is the best opportunity to win in Salt Lake City.
Utah co-head coach Megan Marsden knows the Wildcats are coming into the Huntsman Center with big ambitions. She and fellow head coach Tom Farden are taking time to make sure the Red Rocks will be up for the task.
“[Arizona is] doing a great job,” Marsden said. “They’re a really good team, and we need to be ready to go.”
With the meet being on Monday, Marsden and the rest of the team had a few extra days to prepare. In practice, Marsden has been making sure her gymnasts hit their routines perfectly after some mistakes nearly cost them a win over Oregon State.
“We certainly can’t finish out the meet the way we did against Oregon State and expect to win,” Marsden said. “Right at the moment things have worked out okay for us when we’ve had a few mishaps. It hasn’t cost us a win, but I think our days are running out in terms of the competition we’re going up against. If they hit their stuff and we have a missed event, it’s hard to win against a team like Arizona.”
The team knows working hard and trusting in their training is the only way to get past a tough team like the Wildcats.
Before her injury, Lee discussed what the team needs to do in order to grab its fourth win of the season. She also isn’t fooled by Arizona’s current ranking and feels they are a lot stronger than that.
“Going into every meet, we treat every single competition like they are the best,” Lee said. “It doesn’t matter if they are ranked 20th, sixth or seventh, we will just go out there and do our best. If our very best is winning, then that’s a plus, but we will just go out there and try to perform really well.”
Now that Lee is out after having surgery Friday, the senior leaders need to instill that mindset into the rest of their teammates for their most challenging week yet in 2016. They have a short turnaround between Monday’s meet and Saturday’s showdown with Pac-12 championship contender UCLA.
A win on Monday night will provide a massive boost in Utah’s confidence heading into the next few days, and may provide enough reason to lift them up back into a Super Six spot, so long as no mistakes are made.
The Red Rocks meet against the Wildcats will take place on Monday night at the Huntsman Center at 6 p.m.
@chad_marquez