The long wait is almost over for Utah.
Although it has been a long two weeks for the Red Rocks, who haven’t competed since March 20, they have been waiting for the postseason since they kicked off the 2009 schedule against UCLA in January. They left Thursday for Seattle, Wash., site of the 2009 NCAA Western Regional championship.
“Everyone is just excited for regionals and nationals,” said junior Jamie Deetscreek. “We have been waiting all year for this.”
Coaches, gymnasts and fans alike were ecstatic that the Utes drew Seattle as their regional qualifying location instead of the north central qualifying site of Iowa City for a number of reasons. First of all, the athletic department saved thousands in travel expenses by sending the team on a direct flight to Seattle rather than taking two planes and a long bus ride into Iowa City. Second, Utah can expect a considerably larger fan base in Washington than in Iowa City.
The Red Rocks’ fans always travel well, and Seattle will be no exception. Not only does the shorter commute make it easier for fans to reach the regional qualifier, but the location is also located closer to Red Rock families.
“Since Kristina Baskett is from Seattle, Gael Mackie is from Vancouver and Annie DiLuzio is from northern California, it makes it convenient for their friends and families to see them compete,” said head coach Greg Marsden.
But with all the excitement of the postseason swirling around, it will be important for Utah to remain focused on the task at hand.
“There’s just a lot more that we need to think about,” Baskett said. “We got to think about the practice day before, six teams competing, the byes, even dumb stuff like wearing numbers and just getting pumped up for a longer meet with six teams rather than two.”
Because of the number of teams competing, Utah and every other team at regionals from across the country are forced to take byes in between events so each team can perform on all four apparatuses. The rotation is drawn at random by the NCAA and Utah will start its night off with a bye.
Following the first bye, Utah will start on the floor and move to the vault before having to sit out another rotation with its second bye. Utah will then move to bars, before concluding its time in Washington on the balance beam. Rotating with Utah throughout the night will be Sacramento State senior Marina Borisova who got an at-large bid to participate in the all-around competition.
With all the differences between a regular-season meet and postseason meets, it is often the mentally strong that prevail. Although the Red Rocks have been working on their routines since Fall Semester, there is no telling what effects so many changes might have until it’s time to compete.
“(Our mentality) doesn’t change in a bad way,” Baskett said. “We just have to take a different mental approach. I mean you have to, there’s no way you can’t. You do have to adjust and we just want to do a good job handling that because the teams that do a good job at that are the ones that are going to be on top in the end.”
As difficult as adjustment might be for some teams, Utah has had plenty of success in the past. Utah has never been to a regional qualifier in which it didn’t advance in first or second place.
The Western Regional qualifier gets underway at 7 p.m. Saturday in Bank of America Arena. Other teams jostling for the top two spots with Utah are No. 11 Auburn, No. 14 Illinois, No. 19 Boise State, Washington and San José State.
Lennie MahlerKristina Baskett and the Red Rocks left for the Seattle on Thursday to compete in the Western Regional championships. Baskett will have plenty of support in the stands when the Utes compete in Seattle.