Red Rocks Respond From First Loss To Crack Coveted 197-Point Marker
If Utah wants to have a realistic chance at winning the national championship, the Red Rocks were going to have show some resiliency in the face adversity.
They got that opportunity on Saturday when beginning the Pac-12 season against Arizona — a mere six days after suffering their first loss in nearly two years when they fell to No. 2 Oklahoma.
“Our loss really made us hungry,” senior Alexia Burch said. “We wanted to come out and have a good meet.”
The Red Rocks appeared starved for victory as they beatdown Arizona 197.075-195.650 on Saturday, not only bouncing back from the loss to the Sooners but doing so in a convincing manner by breaking the coveted 197-point marker.
"We felt as a staff that it was a nice, steady meet from start to finish," Utah head coach Tom Farden said. "We know we left some tenths out there in terms of detail work. Being able to test our depth on several events and exchange some athletes on events was also a nice treat. We challenged the team to take this opportunity and match it with the gymnastics they have been doing in practice. I think they did a great job of that."
Utah knew that it was going to have to crack the coveted 197-point marker during the regular season to prove it's worthy of contending for a national title. But what made breaking that mark even more impressive was that its top two performers — Maile O'Keefe and Cristal Isa — didn't compete in the final rotation, floor.
When asked why O'Keefe and Isa didn't compete as part of the floor rotation, Farden said it was all about getting them some rest and letting others get some meet experience. Both competitors have competed in the all-around the past two weeks so saving their legs is something Farden plans on doing more of with the condensed schedule this winter/spring.
“We know that the 197-mark is where the bar has been set by other elite teams and we want to stay in that mix," Farden said. "We don’t want to dwell on the scores. We want to dwell on the process and see where that takes us, but it feels good to get one (197) underneath our belts.”
Utah Gymnastics — Courtesy of Utah Athletics
After frustrating scores on the vault and balance beam against Oklahoma, the Red Rocks responded with much better scores against the Wildcats. They totaled 49.275 and 49.200 on the vault and beam respectively, a full half-point better than they did against the Sooners. It may not seem like a lot but that half-point could very well be the difference from winning a national title or not.
“The biggest takeaway from today was we were waiting for that moment when we could debut those vaults,” Farden said. “We have been talking about it. It was nice to see those four vaults. I think that is going to bode well for us down the road.”
Utah added scores of 49.275 on bars and and 49.325 on floor, led by anchor performer Sydney Soloski. Her score of 9.925 was a season-high for the reigning all-American, and once again allowed her to capture the floor rotation title.
Cammy Hall and Burch got the Red Rocks off to a hot start when they finished 9.900's on the vault, each sticking a Yurchenko 1.5 and netting Utah a season-high 49.275. O'Keefe followed suit by winning the bars competition with a 9.900, her first bars win of the year. She then took home the beam title with another 9.900.
“We are really happy because this was the highest team score of the season, though obviously not our best,” O’Keefe said. “It is a good step. I don’t think we are feeling pressure to get the highest scores that we can right now, because if you are putting that pressure on you are not going to reach it. You just have to keep doing your skills and routines and then it’ll happen.”
Utah Gymnastics — Courtesy of Utah Athletics
The Red Rocks will look to continue their winning ways when they host Washington in a rematch of last year's Pac-12 title meet on Saturday, Jan. 30. Competition is set to begin at 8 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPNU.
“It was a nice and steady meet from start to finish,” Farden said. “It was a complete meet. All four events were close to within a tenth of each other. .. Just a very even-keeled meet. We know we left some tenths out there in terms of detail work. ... That is stuff we are going to work on.”
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