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The Daily Utah Chronicle

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The Daily Utah Chronicle

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Gymnastics: Red Rocks Look To Use Their Nationals Seed In Their Favor

University+of+Utah+Red+Rocks+gymnasts+take+in+a+win+over+Washington%2C+Saturday+Feb.+13%2C+2016.+%28Mike+Sheehan%2C+Daily+Utah+Chronicle%29
University of Utah Red Rocks gymnasts take in a win over Washington, Saturday Feb. 13, 2016. (Mike Sheehan, Daily Utah Chronicle)

The days are counting down before the big event on Saturday, as the Utah gymnastics team prepares for its biggest test of the season when it travels to Texas to take on the best teams in the country in the NCAA Nationals.

So far this past week, things have been going well for the team as a whole. They are trying to put in as much training as possible while also resting the gymnasts’ bodies for the last meets of the season.

Freshman Sabrina Schwab, who will be returning to her home state to compete at Nationals, has been enjoying the week of practice with her teammates while getting pumped up as the meet edges closer each day.

“It’s been going very well,” Schwab said. “We’ve just been just trying to enhance the little details, so we’re just really excited.”

Another aspect of the meet the Red Rocks are excited about is their seeding within the meet itself, as Utah will compete in Olympic order for the first time in more than a quarter century. This means the order of events will be the same as if the Red Rocks were competing at home: starting with vault, going to bars and beam, then finishing with floor.

Co-head coach Megan Marsden was very excited, along with the rest of the team, when they heard they were given the favored draw, citing that every gymnast trains and competes in this order and it is something they’re all used to.

“It’s an exciting draw,” Marsden said. “This would be something that any team would pick. There’s a reason why it’s called the Olympic order, because it’s the chosen one. It’s the one athletes have done in all of their careers before they come here, and once they get here every home meet is Olympic order. We’re excited. It supposed to be random but it doesn’t seem like that when you’re told your order.”

This gives Utah a slight advantage over its competitors, who are all wanting to watch the young team fall flat on its face due to inexperience. Having Olympic order gives the younger gymnasts and all-arounders like Samantha Partyka more comfort in an intense environment where fans from all over the country will be attending.

But even though the team is excited on the draw, the Red Rocks are not relying on it to be their savior. Marsden feels that it doesn’t give the Red Rocks a big advantage, because every team will have a chance to beat them at all four events, just like in every meet.

“In the end, does it make a lot of difference? Not a lot,” Marsden said. “It really doesn’t because you have to do all four events in the course of the night. We had to train our athletes at Utah to be able to conquer all events at any point and time.”

One other aspect that Marsden and the Red Rocks are looking forward to is the format of the meet.

Before, Nationals were spread out over the course of the weekend, meaning three grueling days of hard landings and even higher chances of serious injuries. Only having the meet on Friday and Saturday this year reduces that chance, which is a relief to Marsden and the rest of the coaching staff.

“I like that it’s not a three-day meet anymore,” Marsden said. “I do think that it was really rough on the girls for the ones that were fortunate enough to qualify for the Super Six. It’s nothing close to what these athletes are trained and prepared for to go three days in a row of vault or a full floor routine.”

With the order draw and the change to Nationals, the Red Rocks will use these last few days to mentally prepare themselves and trust their training as they have done all season, not rely on the luck that was handed to them.

[email protected]

@chad_marquez

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