Red Rocks still top in national rankings
Thanks in part to many strong performances last week, including all-around titles for Kristina Baskett at Utah State University and Nina Kim at Nebraska, the Red Rocks stayed atop the national rankings for the third straight week.
As a team, Utah is also ranked first in the country in vault and floor exercise, averaging 49.286 and 49.143, respectively.
Individually, Baskett ranks as the top performer in the country on vault8212;averaging 9.9148212;and is second behind Georgia’s Courtney Kupets on bars, as well as ranking third in the nation in the all-around competition. Kim is ranked fourth in the nation on balance beam while Annie DiLuzio continues to impress with her floor routine as the fifth-ranked gymnast in the nation in the event.
Georgia leapfrogged UCLA to become the No. 2 ranked team in the country with a strong performance against Kentucky this past week, scoring a 196.97. Utah’s next opponent, Michigan, is ranked No. 15 in this week’s polls.
Attendance on record-setting pace
Utah is no stranger to setting records, especially when it comes to attendance. Year in and year out, Utah leads the country in attendance and the program to date holds every attendance record in the country, including the average attendance per meet. The record for average attendance stands at 13,164, which was set back in 1993, but that record might fall by the wayside by the end of this season. With three home meets left this year8212;all of which are against ranked opponents8212;Utah is averaging 13,704 fans per meet, more than 500 more than the previous record.
“We’re very excited to be home,” Kim said. “We miss our fans when we’re on the road and we forget how fortunate we are when we’re on the road and only see 2,000 people in the stands.”
The comforts of home
Although it seems that the Red Rocks have had more success on the road than at the Huntsman Center this year, the team will be happy to return home Friday to host Michigan. After two away meets last week, first at Utah State, then at Nebraska, the Red Rocks will be home for their next three meets. After Michigan comes to town this weekend, the Red Rocks will have an off week before preparing for Arizona State University on March 6.
Utah will wrap up its home schedule on March 13 when it hosts Florida. The Red Rocks’ regular season finale is on March 20 when they travel down to Provo to take on BYU, which means the Red Rocks will not have to leave the state of Utah until the postseason.
Tyler CobbKristina Basket scored a 9.950 on the vault at Utah State last week. The Red Rocks are number one in the country on the vault with a team average of 49.286.