The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

Write for Us
Want your voice to be heard? Submit a letter to the editor, send us an op-ed pitch or check out our open positions for the chance to be published by the Daily Utah Chronicle.
@TheChrony
Print Issues
Write for Us
Want your voice to be heard? Submit a letter to the editor, send us an op-ed pitch or check out our open positions for the chance to be published by the Daily Utah Chronicle.
@TheChrony
Print Issues

No. 2 Red Rocks Earn Season-High Score, Defeat No. 25 Oregon State

University+of+Utah+womens+gymnastics+sophomore+MyKayla+Skinner+performs+on+the+balance+beam+in+a+dual+meet+vs.+The+Oregon+State+Beavers+at+the+Jon+M.+Huntsman+Center+in+Salt+Lake+City%2C+Utah+on+Friday%2C+Jan.+19%2C+2018.++%28Photo+by+Kiffer+Creveling+%7C+The+Daily+Utah+Chronicle%29
Kiffer Creveling
University of Utah women’s gymnastics sophomore MyKayla Skinner performs on the balance beam in a dual meet vs. The Oregon State Beavers at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. (Photo by Kiffer Creveling | The Daily Utah Chronicle)

After a successful start and even better finish, the No. 2 University of Utah gymnastics team registered a season-high score to beat the No. 25 Oregon State Beavers, 197.45 – 196.3. The victory, however, didn’t come without a few mishaps by the Red Rocks as they had a short week of preparation leading up to the meet.

“I felt like tonight was a little bit of a bookend,” said co-head coach Tom Farden. “Vault, we started off really fast and it was a hot start. Bars and beam, we didn’t work with the confidence that I was looking for.”

On vault, Kim Tessen posted a 9.90, and that was followed by two 9.50 performances from MaKenna Merrell-Giles and MyKayla Skinner. The team finished with a score of 49.475 following this event.

Bars and beam gave the Red Rocks some trouble. Farden calls them events of rhythm, but the team struggled to find such rhythm. For Kari Lee, after struggling on bars, she was able to put the past behind her and help her team on beam.

“We obviously had a couple mistakes on the intricate events on bars and beam, but I think [we] pulled through on vault and floor — the power events,” Lee said. “And even with mistakes, we got a 197.45, so that’s pretty incredible. We still have work to do.”

Skinner, who was moved to the anchor spot in the beam lineup, landed a 9.975 on the night.

“They switched beam lineup so it was kind of nerve-racking,” Skinner said. “But at the same time, I knew that after everyone had gone up and hit, I felt relaxed like, ‘Okay, I got this, I can do this, just go up there and enjoy the moment.’ I’ve never been last on beam before, so I just went out there do to the best that I could for my team.”

After two shaky events, Utah put together an impressive showing on floor. Tiffani Lewis got things started off for the Red Rocks with a 9.925. Sydney Soloski also added a 9.925 for Utah. Chasing Skinner for the all-around was Merrell-Giles who came away with a 9.925.

Merrell-Giles finished in second place in the all-around, behind Skinner. Merrell-Giles has been working on letting loose this season, and by her doing so, she’s helping Utah improve each week.

“I just wanted to have fun, stop putting so much pressure on myself, and [I] just wanted to get out there and compete exactly how I practiced,” Merrell-Giles said. “And just stop freaking out about meets.”

The Red Rocks will get back to work as they prepare to hit the road to face Arizona on Friday, Jan. 26 at 6 p.m.

“We had some misfire’s tonight [Friday] and as disappointing as those are, as a coach you have to look forward and be ecstatic about how good this team can be,” Farden said. “Without those misfires, it’s how good can we be? Where can we take this team this year? And so we’re excited about that.”

[email protected]

@curramac22

Leave a Comment

Comments (0)

The Daily Utah Chronicle welcomes comments from our community. However, the Daily Utah Chronicle reserves the right to accept or deny user comments. A comment may be denied or removed if any of its content meets one or more of the following criteria: obscenity, profanity, racism, sexism, or hateful content; threats or encouragement of violent or illegal behavior; excessively long, off-topic or repetitive content; the use of threatening language or personal attacks against Chronicle members; posts violating copyright or trademark law; and advertisement or promotion of products, services, entities or individuals. Users who habitually post comments that must be removed may be blocked from commenting. In the case of duplicate or near-identical comments by the same user, only the first submission will be accepted. This includes comments posted across multiple articles. You can read more about our comment policy at https://dailyutahchronicle.com/comment-faqs/.
All The Daily Utah Chronicle Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *