Just moments into the NCAA Championship Prelims on Friday night, Utah senior Georgia Dabritz’s anticipated run for the all-around title was already over.
With a fall on beam, any chance of her claiming the individual title was through, but at that moment she was only thinking about her team.
“Georgia is a team player,” Utah co-head coach Greg Marsden said. “She was disappointed because she put the team in an awkward position, the second person of the meet goes down and that really adds to the pressure of the people that follow.”
Leading up to the championships Dabritz made it clear that she cared far more about the team doing well than her individual aspirations. The all-around competition took a backseat to the team one, and after the early fall, she knew she may have cost her team a chance at the Super Six.
“The individual stuff is nice icing on the cake, but it really is all about the team,” Marsden said. “All these girls before they came to college were involved in something that was all about the individual but they embrace the team thing so much when they come here, because the sheer camaraderie of working towards a common goal and celebrating together or crying together.”
After her slip-up on beam, Dabritz had put her team in a position where they might be, for the third straight season, sharing tears at the national prelims.
Since Tory Wilson went down with season-ending injuries in the Pac-12 Championships, Dabritz has had to become more of a vocal leader. Wilson was the one that rallied the troops, she was the one that spoke motivating words, and with her out, Dabritz has been forced to try and take up that role.
“I told her, I mean I’ve been in her shoes and it’s not easy,” co-head coach Megan Marsden said. “A lot of times when you’re really focused in on your team and leading your team, every once in a while you forget to take care of yourself and I felt bad that she had the mishap.”
Dabritz, by getting everyone else prepared, may have overlooked herself. But her team had her back. Kailah Delaney, Kari Lee, Baely Rowe and Corrie Lothrop all hit following Dabritz’s fall and her miscue, at least as far as the team scores were concerned, was erased.
Following her rough opening, Greg Marsden told Dabritz to “come roaring back,” — she did just that.
Dabritz was back to her old All-American-level self on floor, posting 9.925, before hitting a 9.90 on vault and then swung her way into the record books with the first 10.0 in Utah history at the NCAA Championships on bars.
“Tonight really didn’t start out the way I wanted or the way I had planned, so that was upsetting for me,” Dabritz said. “But I had to change my attitude real quick and turn around for the team. We were heading into our second event and the team definitely needed me to turn around and have a quick comeback. That definitely happened, and then I ended my night on a high and it felt amazing.”
Before Dabritz even began her bar routine the Utes had already clinched their spot in the Super Six, but with Dabritz’s perfect score they showed they are a contender for the national title. With Dabritz’s bar routine added in, the Utes tied Florida for the first session win with a 197.475 — a score that also would have been the high in the second session.
“That was just an exclamation point and we couldn’t have finished off the day in a better way,” Greg Marsden said. “You want to be considered a contender and Florida has been one of the favorites all year, and we came in and tied them. You got to think we have a chance to be right there.”
The Super Six begins Saturday at 5 p.m. MT and can be streamed live on ESPN3.
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