This Week in Utah Gymnastics
The No. 5 Ute gymnasts (9-1, 4-1 Pac-12) host Stanford (6-7, 3-3 Pac-12) in the final home meet of the season on Friday, Mar. 3 at 7 p.m. MT in the Huntsman Center. The meet, which is dubbed Senior Night with the Stars, will be streamed live on UtahUtes.com. There is no TV.
Senior Night with the Stars
Utah's annual Senior Night with the Stars will feature just one senior honoree this year. Senior All-American and team co-captain
Baely Rowe will be recognized in a pre-meet ceremony. A two-time NCAA Championships' All-American, Rowe is also the reigning Pac-12 beam champion. A starter since her freshman season, Rowe has contributed to two Utah Pac-12 Championships (2014 and 2015) and a second-place finish at the 2015 NCAA Championships. She has competed in the all-around for the past two seasons and was a second-team All-American all-arounder as a junior. Rowe is currently ranked No. 6 in the nation on beam, No. 12 in the all-around and No. 17 on floor.
Fan Fun
The first 1,000 fans in the doors on Friday will receive a free sequined, light-up Michael Jackson style glove as a tribute to senior
Baely Rowe, whose beam routine features his famous moonwalk … Ute fans are poised to break their own NCAA gymnastics season attendance record of 14,950 set in 2015. A crowd of 14,091 against Stanford this Friday (which would be Utah's smallest of the season) would not only break the NCAA gymnastics single-season record, it would also clinch Utah's seventh women's all-sport attendance title. The Utes were the NCAA's top-drawing women's sport in 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. See "Nation's Attendance Leader" for more.
In the Rankings
Utah stayed at No. 5 in the national rankings for the third straight week. The Utes have been ranked in the top six all season. This week's top five by regional qualifying score (RQS) are: Oklahoma (197.990 RQS), LSU (197.695), Florida (197.495), UCLA (197.305) and Utah (197.180). The RQS takes the six best scores—three which must be from away meets—drops the high and averages the remaining five scores.
MyKayla Skinner is ranked No. 2 in the all-around (39.630 RQS), No. 4 on floor (9.945), No. 9 on vault (9.905), No. 11 on bars (9.890) and No. 11 on beam (9.895).
Baely Rowe is ranked No. 6 on beam (9.910), No. 12 in the all-around (39.345) and No. 17 on floor (9.895).
Tiffani Lewis broke into the rankings on bars at No. 22 (9.875). See sidebar on page 3 for Utah's complete national rankings.
Chalk Talk
Utah co-head coach
Tom Farden is one win away from career victory 100. Farden is 28-8-1 in his second season at the Ute helm and has a career record of 99-56-1 that includes six years as the head coach at Southeast Missouri State from 2004-09 … Freshman
MyKayla Skinner is undefeated this season in the all-around and on vault. She has 30 total victories (of 40 possible individual titles) ...
Skinner has set the Pac-12 record for most Gymnast of the Week awards in a season with five. Skinner captured the league honor for the first four weeks of the season and again on Feb. 21. Skinner is also a three-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week … Ute individual event/all-around winners:
Skinner (30),
Baely Rowe (6),
MaKenna Merrell (6),
Tiffani Lewis (2),
Kari Lee (2),
Missy Reinstadtler (1) … The Utes are 185-192 in hit routines (routines without a fall), including 24-24 against Washington, Oregon State and UCLA … Gymnasts who have hit every routine are
Skinner (32-32),
Macey Roberts (12-12),
Maddy Stover (8-8),
Sabrina Schwab (8-8),
Kim Tessen (7-7),
Erika Muhaw (2-2) and
Shannon McNatt (1-1).
Roster Notes
Sophomore
Shannon McNatt got her first career start last week and scored a 9.75 on vault at ASU. McNatt has a 10.0-valued vault … Sophomore All-American and 2016 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year
Sabrina Schwab (knee) and freshman
Kim Tessen (ankle) are out for the season with injuries. Schwab was competing in the all-around, while Tesson was starting on as many as three events.
Series Shorts
Utah leads the series with Stanford 28-6 overall and 12-1 in Salt Lake City … The Utes have won the last seven meets against the Cardinal, including post-season competitions … Stanford's last win over the Utes was in 2014 in Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal's only win in Salt Lake City was in 2011 ... For complete series results, see page 2.
Scouting Stanford
Coach: Kristen Smyth (16th year)
2016 NCAA Finish: 10th
National Rank: NR
2017 Record: (6-7, 3-3 Pac-12)
Notes: Season high 196.325 in a loss to No. 10 Oregon State last Saturday … Stanford has competed in the NCAA Championships nine times in the past 10 seasons and 13 of the past 16 years … Junior All-American
Elizabeth Price, the 2016 Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year, has 11 wins. Price, who has a 39.675 career high in the all-around, has not gone all-around this season … There are four seniors on the Cardinal roster:
Rachel Daum,
Danielle McNair,
Nicolette McNair and
Haley Spector.
