As the University of Utah gymnastics team competed against UCLA in the Huntsman Center on Saturday, Feb. 18, emotions were running high in the arena towards the end of the meet.

The meet against the Red Rocks and the Bruins marked the first time ESPNU televised a Utah home meet. With the added pressure and the scale of the meet being on an ESPN network, it helped the gymnasts elevate their performances out on the floor.

“We have a lot of competitors and athletes who enjoy the spotlight so they channeled it,” said co-head coach Tom Farden. “What I was really pleased with is that they channeled that energy into a positive outcome.”

While channeling the energy on the last rotation, the crowd started to become emotional. Freshman MyKayla Skinner decided in those moments to use the crowd’s energy to pump them up even more.

As Skinner walked out on the floor, she began waving her hands at the crowd, encouraging them to get louder, and according to Skinner, this is a personality trait that has come out since becoming a Red Rock.

“I like to get myself pumped and ready to go before I do that floor routine,” Skinner said. “It just makes it more fun, and I just want to get out there and show them what we got. This is Utah. We work really hard, and I just want to go out there and get that 10 floor routine.”

Skinner mentioned that her teammates were right beside her cheering her on, especially before floor because the crowd was getting wild. Skinner said that Lewis came over and talked to her before her routine and after their talk, Skinner was ready to go out there and do her thing.

While the crowd was wild on Skinner’s side, it seemed as though the crowd facing UCLA was getting too out-of-hand. A UCLA gymnast claimed that the meet should have been closer score-wise, and that Utah fans were flipping off her team.

Farden commented on the allegation, and he said that he was not aware of the gestures being used. Although that is not to say it couldn’t have happened, it’s not how his arena typically acts.

“We have an educated fan base that I know appreciated many of the UCLA performances — they were even cheering on some of their routines,” Farden said. “It’s college sport, and fans have emotions too and feel an investment, but they don’t always use their best judgement. If that did occur, we certainly feel bad.”

However, with all that was going on in the arena, senior Baely Rowe said that her and the team didn’t really watch the Bruins, but they were still aware of how the crowd was reacting.

Rowe continued to say that her team stayed together, and they performed like they practiced everyday. Junior Tiffani Lewis added that in those moments they don’t pay attention to anything else, but themselves.

“We can’t control what the judges do,” Lewis said. “All we can do is control what we do in that moment in that routine in that skill. That is what we really try to focus on.”

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