Red Rocks ready for top-5 battle against Michigan


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SALT LAKE CITY — Friday’s meet at the Huntsman Center is not only Senior Night for Utah gymnastics, but also the biggest meet of the season thus far. The fourth-ranked Red Rocks host fifth-ranked Michigan in their first top-5 competition this year.

“I don’t think there’s any question that we are going to have a battle Friday night,” said co-head coach Megan Marsden.

Utah (10-0, 6-0 Pac-12) remained undefeated after a not-so-perfect win against Oregon State last week. With a victory in Corvallis, Oregon, the Red Rocks became the first Utah team to complete a Pac-12 regular-season stretch without a loss.

Defeating two top-10 non-conference teams will claim an undefeated regular season for the Utes. They can secure it by beating Michigan and 10th-ranked Georgia next week. Utah has just one undefeated season (1993) in program history.

The Utes struggled on balance beam last week at Gill Coliseum, scoring a season-low 48.7. In uncharacteristic performances, Tory Wilson and Kari Lee fell off the beam. Marsden said there aren’t any worries about the pair as they go into Friday’s meet.

“They’re such steady performers,” said Marsden. “We don’t expect that from them, but everybody takes a turn at some point. Thankfully, we were able to have problems and still win that meet.”


They're such steady performers. We don't expect that from them, but everybody takes a turn at some point. Thankfully, we were able to have problems and still win that meet.

–Megan Marsden


According to Marsden, the two gymnasts will stay in the beam lineup. She said the coaching staff feels the falls aren't something to discuss or dwell on. Instead, they’re going to continue with the mindset that the athletes will come back to their normal forms.

However, a change could come on the beam. Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week Georgia Dabritz earned a 9.925 in an exhibition routine in Corvallis. Her performance might secure her the No. 2 beam spot against Michigan. Dabritz leads Utah with three all-around wins, but hasn’t gone all-around in the past two weeks after being replaced on the beam by Kailah Delaney.

“Georgia is definitely fighting for it. It’s going to be difficult down the stretch to make decisions on balance beam," Marsden said. "Both she and Kailah continue to do a good job, so it’s difficult. The good news is we have a lot of options."

For now, the all-around lineup includes Wilson (39.55 season best), who is ranked seventh nationally, and Corrie Lothrop (39.45 season best).

Michigan (8-1, 5-0 Big Ten) is the only team in the nation to have three gymnasts ranked in the top 10 of the all-around: fifth-ranked Sachi Sugiyama (39.55 season-best); sixth-ranked Nicole Artz (39.6 season-best); and 10th-ranked Brianna Brown (39.405 season-best).

The Wolverines are coming off a 197.250-197.8 win against North Carolina State thanks to eight scores of 9.9 or higher. The win moved the team from sixth to fifth place in rankings, swapping with Alabama.

Utah is the fourth top-10 team Michigan will meet this season. They Wolverines have competed against Oklahoma (1), Nebraska (7) and Georgia (10). Michigan's only loss came Feb. 20 against Oklahoma (197.375-197.250).

“This meet is important in that we are both top teams," Marsden said. "We’ve been neck and neck with them all season long with the rankings which told us that Michigan, like us, is an improved team over last year."

Before the competition begins, the Utes will honor the senior class — Dabritz, Lothrop, Becky Tutka and Wilson.

“Senior Night is fun, but once we get done honoring our seniors at the start of the meet we will need to put on our game face and get ready to go.”

Friday’s meet starts at 7 p.m. A free live video stream and scoring is available on UtahUtes.com.

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