Wilson's injury leaves Utah gymnastics 'fired up' with motivation


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SALT LAKE CITY — In her last routine of Saturday night’s Pac-12 championship, Utah gymnastics senior Tory Wilson suffered two season-ending injuries.

“Initially when we saw the injury occur, both Greg (Marsden) and I immediately thought it was probably a torn Achilles tendon. What we didn’t know was that she injured the other foot in the landing,” said co-head coach Megan Marsden.

Wilson ruptured her right Achilles taking off on her first tumbling pass on floor. The injury she suffered in her left foot is a Lisfranc fracture.

“I’m being told it’s (Lisfranc fracture) the more serious injury out of the two. They’re saying it will be the longer recovery,” Marsden added.

Wilson’s injury comes as a surprise to the team. Marsden said Wilson didn’t mention any soreness before the meet.

“The Achilles is like a wire coat hanger. If you were to bend it and bend it, you wouldn’t know what number it would snap,” she said.

And the torn tendon is no stranger to Utah gymnastics. This is the third athlete in three years to go through the injury — Corrie Lothrop (2013) and Kassandra Lopez (2014). The injury is common in the sport due to the tumbling and vaulting gymnasts do. They put a lot of pressure on the tendon and sometimes they don’t hold up.


It's wonderful she wanted to come and be with her team. I love that about Tory. It's not too much about her, it's more about her team. It's a good quality she has.

–Megan Marsden


“I hope that somehow we can figure out if there’s something that can help these athletes from not having this injury,” said Marsden.

Wilson underwent one surgery on both feet Monday afternoon. But just a couple of hours before her operation, she spent time with her teammates watching the NCAA gymnastics regional selection show. The Utes, the top seed in the Berkeley regional, are set to compete against Georgia, Boise State, Cal, Utah State and BYU April 4.

“It’s wonderful she wanted to come and be with her team,” Marsden said. “I love that about Tory. It’s not too much about her, it’s more about her team. It’s a good quality she has.”

As the Red Rocks prepare for the regional meet, they are using Wilson's absence as motivation.

“We are pretty fired up. We lost an important person for the rest of the year. Without a doubt, we have plenty of motivation to finish the rest of the season for Tory. We’ve had a great year already and we want to end it on a high note,” said Lothrop.

At the same time, the team says the injury provides opportunity for other gymnasts. Marsden said the coaching staff will look at who proves they are most ready.

“It will become how much will they take ahold of that and run,” she added.

But taking Wilson’s spot in the lineup won’t come easy. She has consistently performed routines that earned 9.9 or higher, including a 10.0 on vault during the Pac-12 championship. She also received All-Around Pac-12 First Team honors Tuesday.

“You can’t completely fill her shoes, but we have a lot of depth at every event and have girls who we’ve been telling week after week to make sure they are ready. It will be great for them to show what they’re made of and now’s the time to do it,” said Lothrop.

Gymnasts who could take fill Wilson’s void include junior Kailah Delaney and freshmen Kari Lee and Tiffani Lewis.

Delaney and Georgia Dabritz have fought for a spot in the beam lineup for weeks. Dabritz has been in the all-around lineup for eight of 11 weeks and earned a career-high 9.9 against Michigan. The three weeks Delaney has competed on beam, she has scored 9.8, 9.85 and 9.825, consistent with Wilson’s season-high on beam (9.85) against Michigan.

Lee, who is a three-event star, has yet to compete on bars. She has performed in two exhibitions — season opener against BYU and quad meet with Southern Utah, Boise State and UC Davis — where she scored a 9.8 and 9.7 respectively.

Lewis has performed in exhibitions and competed to count on vault, bars and floor. In exhibitions, she averages a 9.8 on vault, and on bars she averages 9.725 and 9.775 on floor. Her career-bests in the three events include 9.850 (vault), 9.875 (bars) and 9.800 (floor).

“The coaching staff will challenge those that get the nod to go in and continue to work on the little things in their routine so it can potentially be a 9.9 routine for us,” Marsden said.

As for Wilson, Marsden says she’s unsure if the gymnast can make the trip to Berkeley. She won’t be able to put any weight on both legs for up to eight weeks and will need to rely on others for mobility.

“To take someone with us that needs so much help, it may not be possible. I don’t want to say now. We haven’t made a final decision on whether she’ll be traveling with us. We have to think about what will be best for the athletes competing,” added Marsden.

One thing's for sure, the team and staff want Wilson with them.

“She’s just a kid with an attitude that is hard to be without,” Marsden said.

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