The University of Utah’s gymnastics team fell from its undefeated stance after losing to Oregon State on Feb. 11. However, freshman MyKayla Skinner remains undefeated in all-around.

Co-head coach Megan Marsden said that her and co-head coach Tom Farden are both proud of Skinner and her transition into the collegiate level. Marsden mentioned that Skinner comes into every practice with the right approach.

“She is extremely consistent, competitive — a quiet competitor — and works very hard to try to do what her team needs in terms of big scores and hit routines,” Marsden said. “We couldn’t be asking any more from her.”

Dropping in rankings, but not in spirits

With a loss and a lower scoring meet, the Red Rocks dropped in the national rankings, going from No. 4 in the country to No. 5. While the drop does sting to a certain extent, Maddy Stover feels that it is a great incentive to drive the team to win again.

Stover said that she and the team are hitting that mid-season range right now where they are still putting things together. Stover added that they can’t change anything about the loss, but they can use it as fuel to their fire.

“We are an aggressive team, an intimidating team, and we have a very focus-driven team,” Stover said. “So if we can all [be] dialed in all at the same time this weekend, there is going to be some magic out on the floor.”

Lightening up the tension

As the Red Rocks are preparing to take on another Pac-12 foe, they are doing their best to lighten up some of the pre-meet tension.

As the Red Rocks will be back on the Huntsman floor on Saturday night, not only will it be a “Red Out” in the arena, the Red Rocks will also debut a new leotard. Marsden said the unveiling is going through the process of a sneak peek this week on social media, allowing the girls on the team to have a little fun with it.

“They are girls and they get excited about a new leotard,” Marsden said. “I also know this is their rival — UCLA. There was a day when I had a team that were more about Georgia, and it was certainly prior to being in the Pac-12, but I feel like in recent years it’s been about UCLA, and when we joined the Pac-12 it heightened it.”

Marsden continued saying that since this is a rival of theirs, it’s time to take a look and see how they stand up against the Bruins. Marsden knows that they will need to be at their best to challenge the Bruins because UCLA has been improving on a weekly basis.

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