The U gymnastics team used its floor routines to defeat the Washington Huskies 197.100-194.675 in Seattle on Saturday.
The Red Rocks (6-0) scored their second highest all-around score of the season while introducing upgrades to their routines in the process.
The team’s 49.550 floor score tied its season high, previously set against Minnesota, and distanced the No. 2 team in the nation from Washington. Beth Rizzo — a 2007 floor exercise All-American — earned a career-high 9.90, and Ashley Postell won the event with a 9.95.
“It was the best floor set I can remember from a Utah team in some years,” head coach Greg Marsden said.
Postell implemented a double Arabian on her first pass and pushed her triple twist to her final pass.
“The landing was really good, and it felt really good to get (the double Arabian) in and compete it,” Postell said.
Kristina Baskett also used an upgrade in her floor routine. The junior used a full-in on her first pass and moved her double pike to the last pass. However, she stepped out of bounds on her last pass, and her score did not factor into the U’s final tally.
Even with the deduction, the native of Normandy Park, Wash., came in second in the all-around (39.425) and won the uneven bars with a 9.90 in front of her hometown fans.
Utah’s Nina Kim, who has competed in the all-around competition the past two weeks, did not compete Saturday. Kim aggravated her foot sprain during warm-ups. She contemplated competing in the uneven bars and the balance beam, but ended up sitting out for the meet.
“It didn’t feel good, and she wasn’t confident,” Marsden said.
With Kim out, Utah had yet another opportunity to test its depth. Jamie Deetscreek stepped into the beam rotation for Kim but fell. The fall did not count against Utah, and the Utes have yet to count one all season.
Utah struggled with the balance beam in 2007, and shades of those woes showed up Saturday. Marsden said that his gymnasts cannot worry about what happens to the performer in front of them.
“If you want to get a big score, you can’t try to just stay on the beam,” Marsden said. “You have to attack it.”
Postell attacked the meet as she has done all season long. The Utes have thrived on Postell’s performances this season. The senior has won all five all-around competitions in which she has competed. Battling illness last week, Postell won the beam and vault but sat out the other two events. She said she is relaxed this season and that strategy is working well for her.
“I don’t want to pressure myself because it’s my senior year,” she said.
Postell doesn’t have to worry about doing everything for her team. Every teammate is ready to step in if called upon.
“We have so much depth this year that if someone does go down, we can throw someone else in, and they can do just as good of a job,” Postell said.
Freshman Gael Mackie performed her first college routine by scoring 9.775 on the bars. Marsden was happy with her performance and said that she earned her spot during this week’s training.
Washington experienced difficulty throughout the meet. The Huskies had at least one score below 9.6 in every event.
Kristen Linton started the GymDawgs off with a 9.525 on the vault, and Kristen Omori ended the meet with an 8.900 on the floor.
Aaron SchwendimanIn a homecoming of sorts, Kristina Baskett took second place to teammate Ashley Postell in the all-around and the Red Rocks defeated the Washington Huskies 197.100-194.675.