For the first time since 1999, Utah failed to make the Super Six in 2013 after problems on beam doomed it in the first round of the NCAA Championships. The fact that the group didn’t participate in team finals in April has been on the minds of gymnasts ever since, and as they prepare to begin the 2014 campaign this weekend, getting back is at the forefront of their minds.
“I think all summer and all preseason we were still kind of upset with how we finished last year, so we’ve definitely made it a goal this year to fix our weaknesses,” said junior All-American Georgia Dabritz, adding that special emphasis has been placed on fixing the woes on beam. “We’re clearly a good enough team [to make it to the Super Six], and we show it 99 percent of the time. It’s just doing it every time we get out on the competition floor.”
Senior Corrie Lothrop feels that making sure the team has a positive morale heading into the season is just as important as being physically prepared.
“Last year was hard,” she said. “At least [the seniors], we’ve never felt like that because we’ve never missed a Super Six, so I think that really hurt our confidence a little bit. This year, we’ve been working really hard with the mental preparation, so I think that’s helping. Slowly we’re building our confidence.”
Despite not making the Super Six last year, co-head coach Megan Marsden said her gymnasts aren’t feeling too much pressure to get back. Rather, there is a sense of relief after expectations had risen so high over the previous decade.
“They just feel drive,” she said. “They feel drive to get there, and they’re showing it every day in the way they’re training.”
Based simply off personnel, getting back to the Super Six seems to be a reasonable goal. Utah will be returning all 24 routines from a season ago and will add freshman Baely Rowe to the mix.
Perhaps most importantly, though, All-Americans Lothrop and Kailah Delaney will be back after being sidelined with injuries in 2013. Lothrop missed most of the season after rupturing her Achilles in February, and Delaney missed the whole campaign with knee problems.
“I don’t know if they completely realize that when you have the same group assembled for another year, they grow, mature and become much better with their decisions, with addressing their weaknesses,” Marsden said. “This group of athletes seems really motivated. They know the game. They’ve been here long enough to kind of understand how college gymnastics works and especially to be at the highest level of that.”
The Red Rocks will begin the season on Saturday in a quad meet against BYU, SUU and Boise State at the Huntsman Center. The meet is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.