Saturday’s Best of Utah gymnastics meet at the Maverik Center was conceived to showcase Utah’s college teams in a podium-like setting to help the squads prepare for the postseason.
But nothing could have prepared the gymnastics teams for this kind of year, one in which preseason training not only had start delays, but interruptions, too, due to the pandemic.
“It has been crazy,” said SUU coach Scott Bauman, who was forced away from the gym himself for a time until he found out a positive test was actually a false positive. “All the disruptions we have had have been crazy, but at the same time I have been impressed with how the team is handling it.”
Bauman’s thoughts are echoed by others as teams have dealt with the unpredictable training schedule as best as they can. While they might be behind where they usually are at this point in the season, there is some solace in knowing all the teams are affected as Utah, SUU, BYU and Utah State get ready for the season opener, scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Maverik Center.
The key, Utah’s Alexia Burch said, is to not dwell on what has happened but move forward, as quickly as possible.
“We want to start where we left off last year or as close to it as possible rather than rebuild momentum,” she said. “You don’t know if you are going to get a post-season, nothing is guaranteed.”
The Utes, who won the inaugural event last year, are expected to win again this time. However, the Utes are more focused on themselves than anything else.
“We would love to hit 24 routines and see where it takes us,” Utah coach Tom Farden said. “We want to come out and develop some consistency.”
The Utes are still working on their vault lineup with Farden looking at a possibility of 10 different options. He hopes to have half the lineup throwing 10.0 vaults soon, but said the lack of training is affecting the Utes in this event.
BEST OF UTAH GYMNASTICS MEET
UTAH, BYU, UTAH STATE, SOUTHERN UTAH
At the Maverik Center
When • Saturday, 7 p.m.
TV • BYUtv
The Utes are in a similar situation with the floor lineup where a lack of reps has the Utes still playing catch-up, but Farden likes the group he has.
“Floor is where we have athletes waiting in the wings,” he said. “We have some strong returners and some recruits that are going to give firepower.”
Sophomore Jaedyn Rucker, who missed the 2020 season with a knee injury, is one that could break into the lineup.
Bars is the one area where the Utes don’t have a lot of depth, but it is an experienced lineup with Cristal Isa, Maile O’Keefe and Emilie LeBlanc leading the way.
Beam is solid for the Utes, so much so Farden doesn’t see him tweaking with the lineup much.
“If it ain’t broke, we aren’t touching it,” he said.
Best of Utah at a glance
Utah
National ranking: No. 4
How 2020 ended: The Utes finished 11-0 and were awarded the Pac-12 regular season championship. Farden was named the league’s Coach of the Year and Kim Tessen was Specialist of the Year.
How 2021 looks: The Utes are no longer an unknown entity with a veteran squad returning. Their big test to judge where they and what they must do to be competitive on a national scale comes Jan. 17 when they compete at Oklahoma, the most dominant team in the country in recent seasons.
Southern Utah
National ranking: No. 23
How 2020 ended: SUU finished the shortened 2020 season ranked No. 22 with a national qualifying score of 196.165. Their highest score was a 197.225 against Central Michigan, which was the highest score ever for the program.
How 2021 looks: The T-Birds lost a strong senior class but they have some rising talent, particularly on the beam where Hanna Nipp was first-team all-MRGC and Shylen Murakami was second-team.
SUU lost half its floor workers but coach Scott Bauman likes what he sees in practice thus far.
“Floor is a funny thing for us, it usually comes along mid-season,” he said. “With all our disruptions, we have been training some different options like working three passes and two passes, so doing some different things.”
BYU
National ranking: No. 17
How 2020 ended: The Cougars were ranked No. 16, the team’s highest national ranking in 15 years, when the season ended. While the Cougars were denied the chance to prove themselves in the post-season, they were awarded the Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference champions for the first time in the program’s history.
How 2021 looks: The Cougars are led by seniors Abby Boded Stainton and Abbey Miner Alder, the latter of whom was first team all-MRGC on the floor and second-team on the vault and beam last year.
Sadie Miner, the MRGC vault specialist of the year, also returns as does Haley Ptou, who was second-team on bars and Britney Vitkauskas, who was second-team on the floor.
Utah State
National ranking: No. 32
How 2020 Ended: After years of rebuilding, the Aggies seemed to turn a corner last year, finishing 7-6-1, marking the first time since 1999 that USU ended the season with a winning record. Coach Amy Smith, who begins her fourth season with the Aggies, was named the MRGC Coach of the Year.
The Aggies also snapped a 22-meet losing streak to Boise State, dating back to 2012, a nine-meet losing streak to BYU and a five-meet losing streak to SUU.
How 2021 looks: Autumn DeHarde, the MRGC Gymnast of the year and Sofi Sullivan, the MRGC Freshman of the Year, will lead the Aggies this season while Leighton Varnadore will also be a gymnast to watch.
