Soloski, Burch Win Pac-12 Weekly Awards
SAN FRANCISCO – After edging conference rival UCLA last weekend to remain undefeated in Pac-12 play, Sydney Soloski and Alexia Burch were named Pac-12 weekly award winners for their efforts in Utah's victory. Soloski earned her second Specialist of the Week award, while Burch collected her second Coaches' Choice award of the season.
Soloski, Utah's senior floor anchor, went into her routine with the Red Rocks trailing the Bruins and needed to hit for Utah to have a shot at winning the meet. The Calgary, Alberta native came through once again on her signature event and scored a 9.925 on floor to win the meet for Utah.
Soloski's 9.925 placed second overall and pushed Utah's event score to a 49.450, which is the highest team floor score in the Pac-12 to this point. She has scored a 9.90 or higher in all but the season opener, marking five-straight scores of 9.90-plus. Soloski has hit 6-6 routines this year with none bigger than her floor routine against UCLA.
With an excellent meet of her own, Burch picked up her second Coaches' Choice award and third weekly award overall. The Sparks, Nev. native picked up where she left off on vault and exploded off the table for her second-straight 9.975. The career-tying mark won Burch her fourth-straight vault title. In the last four meets, Burch has not scored below a 9.90 on vault.
Burch led off the beam lineup with a 9.85 for the second-straight meet, while scoring a 9.825 on bars to have all three scores count toward to the team total last weekend.
Utah now holds a conference-best 11 weekly honors this season. Maile O'Keefe has earned three Gymnast of the Week honors, while Burch has earned two Coaches' Choice awards and a Specialist of the Week honor. Soloski boasts two Specialist of the Week awards, Jaedyn Rucker has been a Coaches' Choice honoree twice, and Abby Paulson has been named a Specialist of the Week to round out awards to this point for Utah.
The No. 4 Ute gymnasts will host the No. 9 California Golden Bears this Friday, Feb. 26 at the Huntsman Center. Utah and California will compete at 7 p.m. MT on the Pac-12 Network.