From Press Services
Los Angeles, Calif. -The Utah gymnastics team
overcame a rocky start and took advantage of UCLA's even rockier finish to
win its opening meet, 194.875-193.850, in Pauley Pavilion. A win seemed out
of the question for the No. 2 Utes after they kicked off the season with
two falls on the uneven bars. Despite righting the ship after the disastrous
start, Utah went into the final rotation trailing the No. 3 Bruins (5-1)
by .325. A shocking finish on the floor exercise by UCLA, which committed
three falls and a major break, let the Utes back into the chase. Utah responded
with a solid beam set to snatch its third straight victory over the Bruins.
Utah has now won three of its last four season-openers--all against
UCLA.
Nothing suggested a Utah victory
after sophomores Katie Kivisto and Ashley Postell fell victim to opening-night
nerves and fell off the uneven bars. Relief came from freshman Nina Kim,
who was mostly outstanding in her college debut and confidently swung through
a 9.725 bar routine after the fall by Postell. Sophomore Jessica Duke (9.80),
freshman Kristina Baskett (9.875) and junior Nicolle Ford (9.875) followed
suit and the Utes wouldn't count another fall for the rest of the night.
"We tried to take ourselves out
of it on the first two routines, but I told the team I was very proud of
how they responded," said Utah head coach Greg Marsden. "It was obvious that
our first two competitors were big-time nervous and the falls were very atypical
of them. We did a good job on the other three events and I was pleased that
none of our mistakes after (the opening falls) were due to tentativeness
or nerves."
Marsden certainly had reason to
be pleased with his freshman class. Kim fell on her last pass on floor or
she would made a bid for the all-around title by scoring a 9.725 on bars,
9.825 on vault and 9.85 on beam. Kristina Baskett was marvelous on the three
events she competed to count, scoring a 9.875 on bars, 9.80 on vault and
9.825 on floor. Baskett tied for first on the floor exercise with senior
Gritt Hofmann (9.825). Although it didn't count in the team totals, Baskett
also performed an exhibition beam routine that scored a 9.675.
Ford placed second in the all-around
with a 39.20, highlighted by her high degree of difficulty and execution
o the bars (9.875) and balance beam (9.85). Hofmann also kicked off the New
Year in midseason form, adding a 9.70 vault and 9.775 beam score to her winning
floor routine.
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