Back in mid-October, the U women's swimming and diving team co-captain Marissa Martin expressed her confidence in the team's chances of going through the regular season undefeated. As Martin stood arm-in-arm with her father, Gary Martin, and was introduced to the capacity crowd on Senior Night at the U Natatorium Friday night, she and her teammates had just one obstacle left before reaching that goal.
Before 2004, Utah and BYU were traditionally swimming against each other three times a season. This may not seem like much until one considers the fact that each team only competes in about 13 meets all season long. This is about the equivalent of BYU and Utah pounding it out against each other on the gridiron for a quarter of the college football season.
Over the years, blood has been spilled, harsh words have been exchanged and families have been divided because of the rivalry between BYU and Utah-except in gymnastics. The crowds may be a little bigger come Friday when BYU joins Utah, Arkansas and Southern Utah at the Huntsman Center, but the atmosphere is a little different from the one present at a basketball or football game between the two in-state rivals.
From the moment this year's freshmen walked onto the U campus, Greg Marsden has stressed how vital these gymnasts will be to the Utes' National Championship hopes. For Marsden and the Red Rock freshmen, it's been a bumpy ride ever since. That ride began with a preseason that had more question marks than the lime-green spandex Jim Carrey wore in "Batman Forever.
It was not a pretty sight at the Duke household on Nov. 27. Then again, things rarely are when BYU and Utah fans mingle in the same household the day of the biggest football game in the state of Utah. During Ute gymnast Jessica Duke's freshman and sophomore years at the U, she had the pleasure of watching Utah beat her parents' alma mater on the football field, but during the most recent Battle for the Boot, Jessica was the Duke left with a bad taste in her mouth.
Swimming seems like a sport where the home crowd wouldn't have much effect on an outcome. For one, a swimmer's head is submerged in thousands of gallons of water, and a coach basically has to mimic the mating call of a 100-pound songbird just so his swimmers can distinguish his instructions amidst the chaos of a race.
It was only a matter of time before the Utes' best All-Arounder claimed her first All-Around victory of the young 2007 gymnastics season. That time finally came for Ashley Postell this weekend in Minnesota. Postell led the way as the Red Rocks went into Minneapolis for their first road meet of the season and came home with a 195.
Every team has a harder time playing on the road than at home; the Utah gymnastics team is no different. Harsh environments and thousands of booing fans typically make going on the road a challenge. But for the Red Rocks, not having any fans to perform in front of is the biggest challenge when the team competes outside of the Huntsman Center.
On Aug. 11, 2006, members of Real Madrid and Real Salt Lake stood with shovels in hand and posed for cameras with RSL owner Dave Checketts on the site for the new Real Salt Lake soccer stadium. Smiles and handshakes were exchanged, and fans got the chance to see David Beckham overturn small plots of dirt near the intersection of 9400 South and State Street in Sandy.
If it weren't for the way the women of the U swim team went 6-0 on six- straight road trips this year, one might expect to see the team members clicking their heals together while repeatedly shrieking, "There's no place like home, there's no place like home.
