It was a long flight back home to Salt Lake City for the Utah gymnastics team, which is currently on the rebound from its first loss of the season to Pac-12 rival UCLA on Saturday.
Even though each gymnast on the team could have done better to grab the win against the Bruins, co-head coach Tom Farden felt that his team did the best they could against the No. 5-ranked team in the country.
“It was an awesome meet for our young team going against a very talented UCLA team on its home floor,” said Farden. “We coaches are so proud of how our gymnasts responded in this environment against one of the elite teams in the country. It shows we have the confidence to go head-to-head against anyone anywhere.”
Farden feels that this loss shouldn’t affect the team as hard as it is currently, and ultimately, he’s right. Many followers of the Red Rocks this season felt that this team would be underperforming at this point in the season. With a young and mostly inexperienced team, this was only to be expected.
But it’s been the opposite. This young Utah team is still on the cusp of a Super Six spot, and has continually been able to compete with and even outdo its competitors this season. That’s something a lot of young teams in college athletics can’t live up to.
The Red Rocks have developed such a great program over the years, that they don’t have to worry about taking a few years off to redevelop and regroup when confronted with new faces and less experience. In summary, if any fan is concerned about Utah’s first loss of the season, they shouldn’t be.
The Red Rocks will bounce back, and will do it in style. It all begins after a regular break during the week until they meet their next Pac-12 opponents, Washington, on Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. in the Huntsman. So if you’re a fan, don’t be worried about the season so far, because the best is yet to come.
@chad_marquez