With the last road trip over and only one more home meet remains before the regular season comes to a close, there were many faces on the Utah gymnastics team who rose up and showed their worth in many meets throughout season.
Some examples include Maddy Stover, who had her greatest beam set to help the Red Rocks show their competitiveness over Stanford; Baely Rowe, who demonstrated her worth as an all-arounder against Cal; and Samantha Partyka, who has had consistent performances all season.
But one gymnast who has proven herself throughout the entire course of the season is none other than senior leader Breanna Hughes, who had a sensational night in Utah’s win over Michigan on Saturday. She continues to prove what hard work and trust can do in the gym.
Co-head coach Tom Farden wasn’t hesitant to talk about Hughes’ growth from the time she arrived at the U as a freshman in 2011 to being one of the best gymnasts in the Pac-12 this year.
“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.”
With the Red Rocks entering into a period of transition after numerous changes during the offseason, it was crucial the team have a leader to inspire the younger, less-experienced gymnasts who made up most of the roster.
Hughes made sure to let the team know that they could do great things if they worked hard, trusted in their training and had fun at every meet. She went on to mention that the younger gymnasts in the starting lineups should work hard on not letting their nerves get the best of them in some the season’s biggest meets.
“We’re not thinking of it as more nerve-racking, as many other people are treating it as,” she said. “We just need to go out every meet and do what we’ve been doing in practice and the previous meets. We need to trust ourselves and our training, and not put emphasis on any specific routine in these meets.”
As the final home meet of the regular season against Georgia approaches, it’s clear the Red Rocks have taken Hughes’ advice to heart. After losing so many pieces from last year’s NCAA runner-up squad, they have defied expectations placed on them at the beginning of the season with such a young squad, remaining right in the mix of national title contenders.
Hughes is a testament to the team’s ‘theme’ of overcoming adversity and proving people wrong this whole season. Now, leading in the Pac-12 and being in Super-Six contention once again heading into the postseason, Hughes is ready to lead the team to glory in her final season as a Red Rock.
It will be a bitter-sweet moment for her and the rest of the seniors this coming weekend, but she won’t let her emotions get the best of her. Heading into the meet against the Bulldogs, she’ll prepare like she does in every meet — by believing in herself and trusting in her training.
@chad_marquez