Pac-12 gymnastics teams to wrap up non-conference competition

This weekend seven of eight Pac-12 teams will compete against non-conference opponents before Pac-12 competition gets underway in earnest the weekend of Jan. 28. No. 17 WASHINGTON and No. 14 CALIFORNIA will compete in a tri-meet with San Jose State on Sat., Jan. 21; that meet will air live on Pac-12 Bay Area.

UTAH freshman MyKayla Skinner was named both Pac-12 Gymnast and Pac-12 Freshman of the Week yet again this week, taking home four of the six possible Pac-12 weekly awards so far this season as well as winning nine of her possible ten titles. Skinner is the fourth-ranked all-arounder in the nation and will lead UTAH this Friday as the Red Rocks take on two highly-ranked teams in No. 16 Boise State and No. 7 Denver.

An impressive seven Pac-12 gymnasts are ranked in the top-25 nationally on the beam after the first two weeks of competition: Joslyn Goings of WASHINGTON is ranked second, Madison Kocian of UCLA and Baely Rowe of UTAH are tied for ninth, Madeline Gardiner of OREGON STATE comes in at 11th, Desiree Palomares of CALIFORNIA is 14th, and Dani Dessaints of OREGON STATE and MyKayla Skinner of UTAH are tied at 21st. As a team, three Pac-12 teams are ranked in the top-10 on beam: UTAH is sixth, WASHINGTON is eighth, and UCLA is tenth.

WASHINGTON opened the season strong under first year head coach Elise Ray in their quad-meet at Ohio State. Despite coming in third place, the Huskies scored a 195.175, good enough for a No. 17 national ranking. The Huskies are also ranked No. 8 nationally on the beam, thanks in large part to Joslyn Goings who scored 9.925 on the beam in Columbus. 

After taking on teams currently ranked No. 1 and No. 23 in the first two weeks of the season, No. 6 UCLA will rest this weekend before opening Pac-12 competition against No. 19 OREGON STATE in Corvallis on Jan. 28.

Gymnasts come from all over the world to compete in the Pac-12. This year’s rosters include 14 international student-athletes from four different countries: Canada (9), Australia (3), Ecuador (1), and Jamaica (1).

UTAH sold more than 8,600 season tickets ahead of the 2017 gymnastics season, selling season seats in the upper deck for the first time in school history. UTAH returns home this week to host No. 16 Boise State, No. 7 Denver, and Illinois-Chicago Friday at 7 p.m. MT.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

RECENT RESULTS

CONFERENCE STANDINGS 

PAC-12 GYMNASTICS WEEKLY HONORS

Gymnast and Freshman / Newcomer of the Week: MyKayla Skinner, UTAH
• For the second week in a row, MyKayla Skinner has been named both the Gymnast and Freshman of the Week in the Pac-12.
• Skinner won every event title and the all-around in Utah's 196.900-194.175 road win at BYU on Friday. 
• Her 39.600 in the all-around vs. BYU is tied for the third-best all-around score in the nation so far this year and her 9.95 on floor vs. BYU is tied for the best floor score in the nation. 
• Skinner has now won nine out of a possible 10 titles in Utah's first two meets of the season. 
• With a No. 5 national ranking and a 2-0 record, Utah is the top-ranked team in the Pac-12 again this week. 

Specialist of the Week: Christine Peng-Peng Lee, UCLA
• In UCLA's meet at No. 1 Oklahoma on Sunday, Christine Peng-Peng Lee placed first on uneven bars for the second-straight meet, scoring a season-high 9.925. 
• Lee also earned a 10 from one of the two judges on balance beam and finished with a season-high score of 9.95, placing second. 
• She currently ranks eighth in the nation on bars with an average of 9.9.
• UCLA scored a season-high 196.825 to place second at Oklahoma. The Bruins improved upon last week's season-opening score by over one full point UCLA had season-highs on bars (49.35), beam (49.45, second-highest in the nation this season) and floor (48.95).

ALSO NOMINATED:
Gymnast of the Week: Hailey Burleson, WASH; Nichelle Christopherson, ASU; Rachel Daum, STAN; Kaytianna McMillan, OSU; Sonya Meraz, UCLA; Toni-Ann Williams, CAL.

Specialist of the Week: Madeline Gardiner, OSU; Kaylee Cole, STAN; Beka Conrad, ASU; Joslyn Goings, WASH; Tiffani Lewis, UTAH; Arianna Robinson, CAL.

Freshman / Newcomer of the Week: Kyla Ross, UCLA; Kaylee Cole, STAN; Cassidy Keelen, CAL; Sabrina Gill, OSU; Morgan Hart, ASU.

PAC-12 VS. OTHER CONFERENCES 

GYMNASYICS ON PAC-12 NETWORKS

Pac-12 Networks, now in its fifth season of unprecedented coverage of Pac-12 sports, will air 30 women’s gymnastics meets in 2017. All eight Pac-12 schools will appear on the Networks at least six times: Arizona (7), Arizona State (7), California (8), Oregon State (7), Stanford (6), UCLA (9), Utah (7) and Washington (7). Both sessions of the 2017 Pac-12 Women’s Gymnastics Championships will be televised live nationally on Pac-12 Network on Saturday, Mar. 18 at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, California.