The Red Rocks celebrated their first win in program history against Stanford over the weekend, but the team is now back in Salt Lake City to prepare for another road trip to the Golden State this Saturday, when the Utes will take on Cal. Unfortunately, the team’s lineup will be mixed around, once again, due to minor injuries that occurred IN the past few days.
This includes senior starter Kailah Delaney, who is out for all three of her events due to knee soreness. All-arounder sophomore Samantha Partyka, who has been dealing with lower leg problems, has also has been pulled from the floor and vault, leaving the Red Rocks with a lot of holes to fill in the roster.
Even though the Red Rocks have replacements, it will still be a challenge to throw their younger gymnasts into the fray, including freshman Erika Muhaw, who will fill in for Delaney on the vault. The young gymnast has shown well in exhibition on vault, earning a high score of 9.775 three times, but actually starting in real competition is a whole new monster.
It will be a true test of Utah’s depth, which co-head coach Megan Marsden feels confident about.
“I do think we have some depth on some events right now,” Marsden said. “It allows us to trade people out here and there, and all the girls are working hard to be ready for their opportunity.”
Red Rocks stay at No. 5
The Red Rocks also came home to good news with their positioning in the national polls, staying put at No. 5 after Regional Qualifying Scores were put into effect.
With the different scoring system having to include three high road scores, it was expected that Utah would drop in the polls for some time while it competes during this away stretch. But the team’s exceptional performance against the Cardinal helped them stay in a Super Six slot for another week.
But due to the team missing one away meet for the RQS, some individuals were dropped out of this week’s rankings. Nonetheless, the Red Rocks are still ranked fifth on bars, seventh on beam and eighth on both vault and floor.
Awards piling up
In Pac-12 competition, the Red Rocks continue to pile up weekly awards, with freshman Sabrina Schwab taking home the most by being named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week three times so far this season. Senior Breanna Hughes and junior Baely Rowe have also brought home Specialist of the Week awards this season.
Even though many gymnasts have been performing their best this season, the Utah coaching staff especially has noticed Hughes for her leadership and ability to compete this season. Co-head coach Tom Farden has noticed that all season from the senior leader.
“To watch [Hughes] grow and be one of our stars and mainstays on this roster over the course of these last four years has been awesome,” Farden said. “It’s great to see her maturation, and it’s awesome to see her confidence just grow.”
The team hopes to continue gaining more individual awards in the Pac-12 when it squares off again Cal this Saturday.
@chad_marquez