Sydney Soloski Saves Red Rocks In Victory Over Pac-12 Rival UCLA
Now a seasoned veteran, Sydney Soloski is extremely well-versed in the rivalry that is Utah vs. UCLA gymnastics.
So when the Red Rocks needed a phenomenal routine from their anchor in the floor rotation, Soloski didn't scoff, cower or breakdown at the thought. Rather, she focused and found her swag, doing what she always does — be flawless.
With the Red Rocks trailing by .050, Soloski's 9.925 score in the final routine of the competition was enough to lift No. 3 Utah to a 197.225-197.100 victory over No. 14 UCLA, handing the Bruins their first loss of the season.
"Sydney was the MVP tonight for many reasons and she just, through her leadership and then also being able to get it done in a decisive moment, it just speaks volumes for her confidence and for her ability to command her gymnastics," Utah head coach Tom Farden said. "I really enjoyed watching that particular floor routine; I thought it was very spunky."
"My mindset was kind of the same as it always is. My goal is always to hit," Soloski added. "But I did do the math going in knowing you need a 9.90 — I think that was the correct math for me to win. I just wanted to fight until the end — there wasn't much different than my mindset normally."
More than Soloski, the Red Rocks needed a solid score on the floor after UCLA was able to trim the deficit entering the final rotation of the competition.
Jaylene Gilstrap got things started with a 9.875 in what was a great starting point for Utah. The mojo continued when Abby Paulson, who struggled with a season-low beam routine 20-30 minutes prior, rebounded with a 9.900 and really set the stage for the Red Rocks.
Lucy Stanhope and Jaedyn Rucker came through with 9.875's to keep pace with the Bruins, who were pretty flawless on their portion of the beam rotation. Both Paulson and Stanhope's routines tied their career-highs.
Then came a questionable score by the judges, one of many on the night according to Farden, when Utah star Maile O'Keefe was given a 9.750 — thus setting the stage for Soloski's heroics.
“I was really proud of everyone who went before me, but especially Jaylene, who has been out for a few weeks and came in and really delivered,” Soloski said. “Everyone did a really good job. They all rose to the occasion and delivered.”
“She does a wonderful job in practice, and that is what we saw in the meet,” Farden added about Gilstrap. “When she went up there and hit that monster score, it was a confidence boost to the rest of the athletes and they fed on that. From then on out, minus Maile (O’Keefe), everyone took advantage of that.”
O'Keefe, who had been dominant all season long, struggled through some uncharacteristic inconsistencies. Not only was she off in small spots, the judging against her appeared to be off as well. Two of her routines, the judges had a disparity of .100 and .150 in their respective scores, almost unheard of in gymnastics.
"Honestly, it is the most frustrating part sometimes when I see out there, or our coaches see out there, disparities of a tenth or more, because it almost questions you as a coach," Farden said. "The angles should be both side on or across from each other as far as the judges and what they're seeing, and it's the liabilities of a subjective sport."
Due to the struggles, O'Keefe lost the all-around by a score of 39.425-39.325 to UCLA's Chae Campbell. Campbell's 9.950 on the floor was the best score by a Bruin all night long, all allowed her to edge out teammate Margzetta Frazier by .025 for the all-around victory.
The Red Rocks led by .200 after the first rotation when Alexia Burch's meet-high 9.975 on vault helped them overcome a less-than-stellar score by Cammy Hall.
The lead was stretched to .250 following the second rotation after Cristal Isa and O'Keefe recorded team-highs of 9.875 in the uneven bars.
With UCLA thriving on the floor, the Red Rocks struggled on beam when Paulson had the uncharacteristic fall, forcing Utah to use Stanhope's 9.775 score. Isa recorded a 9.875 and O'Keefe finished with a 9.900 — one judge gave O'Keefe a 9.800 and another rewarded the sophomore with a 9.950.
The Bruins, who had failed to break the 197-point barrier all season, began to make their comeback on the floor. Campbell's 9.950 and Pauline Tratz's 9.900 helped UCLA narrow the deficit to .100 entering the final rotation.
While Utah is happy with the win, the Red Rocks fully understand that more work is needed if they want a chance at returning to national glory with a championship. They had last weekend off, which meant a two-week break that can have either a positive and negative affect depending on the athlete.
“We definitely feel like that wasn’t our best performance,” Farden said. “However, love the fight our athletes never gave up and had each other’s back all the way through. We hit enough to get out with the win and proud of the team’s hunger to continue to fight to the end.”
“I think this win will be really big for our underclassmen,” Soloski added. “UCLA is a good team and they brought it tonight. We learned that we can’t let down and have to keep pushing. This is a confidence booster, but we are definitely going to have to learn from this one.“
Utah Gymnastics — Courtesy of Utah Athletics
The Red Rocks will return to competition on Friday, Feb. 26 when they host Cal at 7 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network.
"They didn’t back down. ... We like to see that," Farden said of his team. "Nobody backed down, nobody gave up. They fought for every tenth. Was it a perfect meet tonight? No, but we like what we saw in terms of their ability. They know they are at the top of the conference and undefeated in the Pac-12. They know they have a quasi-target on their back and they still got it done."
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