Freshman gymnast Kristina Baskett has yet to get a shot at the all-around through her first two meets. That seems likely to change.
The Normandy Park, Wash., native was magnificent in front of her “home” crowd, leading the No. 4 Utes (2-0) to an easy 195.625-193.325 road victory over the No. 18 Washington Huskies.
Baskett scored a 9.90 on the vault, 9.85 on the uneven bars and 9.775 on the floor exercise, while submitting a 9.90 exhibition beam routine that would have given her a slight edge over teammate Ashley Postell (9.875), who also finished tied with Baskett for first on the vault.
“Boy, did I blow that decision,” said Ute head coach Greg Marsden, regarding his all-around roster. “I should have let her go all-around in her return home, but she hadn’t trained particularly well, and some others earned the opportunity.”
Baskett performed in pain after suffering a dislocated finger on a practice vault during the Jan. 7 meet against UCLA-which she would re-injure on the actual vault-but Marsden attributes Baskett’s absence from the beam lineup to her habits throughout the week.
“I’m trying to teach Kristina to train better in practice,” he said. “In club gymnastics you pay a fee and do all four events in the meet. She’s proven she’s a competitor, which is great, but it takes time for a coach to learn that.”
Postell, after just two weeks of practice this season, treated the fans to a rare sight in collegiate gymnastics on a vault she hadn’t tried since her Elite days. Her Yurchenko with a half twist on, front pike with a half twist off received a 9.90 and helped her take the all-around despite suffering a fall on the uneven bars.
Gabriella Onodi and Kristen Riffanacht also took falls on the beam, although Nina Kim (9.725), Gritt Hofmann (9.85), Nicolle Ford (9.85) and Postell (9.875) responded well.