That the U gymnastics team was ranked first in the nation on the beam?with an average score of 49.330?going into Saturday’s matchup with Florida just made it all the more surprising that the event nearly cost Utah the win.
However, despite falling on their first three beam routines and having to count two of them, the Utes still managed to win their 169th straight home dual meet with a 196.750?195.520 victory over the Gators.
Though the win was the No. 3-ranked Utes’ third straight overall, and improved their record to 8-2 on the season, it did little to assuage the feeling that the talented but inconsistent group is but one bad meet from a total meltdown and catastrophic end to a promising season.
After all, the U had counted at least one fall in every meet dating back to its Feb. 1 misstep at LSU up until last Saturday’s defeat of Oregon State. Even against the Beavers, though, Utah had three falls, and a step out of bounds on the floor exercise.
The Utes hoped to work out the kinks against UF, but instead saw what had been their Rock of Gibraltar, the beam, nearly crush them to death.
Through the first two rotations, vault and bars, Utah had built a comfortable 98.800?98.075 advantage over the 16th-ranked Gators, and went into its beam performance looking to put the contest out of reach.
Instead, it put Florida back into contention.
Competing as though the apparatus were slicked over with more ice than an Alaskan Eskimo has encountered in a lifetime, the first half of the U’s event lineup shook things up in a hurry.
Kim Allan began the carnage, faltering her way to a 9.225. Annabeth Eberle and Veronique Leclerc followed suit, each registering paltry 9.375s and further facilitating the U’s downward slide.
Melissa Vituj stopped the bleeding with a 9.85, Shannon Bowles (who went on to win the all-around with a 39.425), came up with a big 9.925, and finally, Theresa Kulikowski, the top beam performer in the entire nation, stepped up to do her part.
Though an illness had limited the usual all-arounder to just bars (where she’d scored a 9.95) and beam, she came through in fine fashion, scoring her second 9.95 of the night?the best score turned in on the event.
The late rally (a 48.475 team score on the beam) was just enough to hold off the hard charging Gators, whose 49.175 on the floor had brought them to within 0.02 points in the overall margin.
And the event proved sufficiently difficult for UF as well to secure the win for Utah. While the U finished with its best score of the night (a 49.475 on floor), the beam was even more unkind to the Gators than it had been to the Utes, as three of their own athletes fell on the apparatus and a mere total of 48.000 was achieved.
Now, the Utes have precious little time to get their problems figured out and their act together. The regular season finale comes this coming Saturday, as Utah’s Senior Night takes place against BYU at the Huntsman Center.
After that, it’s on to NCAA Regionals on April 6 at an as yet-undetermined location, and, should the Utes qualify, as expected, the NCAA Championships on April 18 through 20 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.