Utes to get early wake-up call for Saturday’s home meet against Washington

It will be rise, shine and compete for Utah’s third-ranked gymnastics team on Saturday as the Utes have the unusual start time of 1:30 p.m. for their Pac-12 contest against No. 15 Washington.

The early start time was dictated by the Pac-12 Network TV schedule. Warmups will start at 11:30 a.m. While it’s earlier than usual, Utah coach Megan Marsden said the team shouldn’t have to make much of an adjustment since the Utes normally practice at 1 p.m.

“It’s like we are competing right through our workout time,” she said. The bigger adjustment might be for fans, although last year the Utes found out the afternoon meets still draw as well as the later ones.

Last year the Utes defeated Cal in an afternoon meet that drew 15,326 fans, the 11th-largest crowd in school history.

“We learned fans don’t mind and we might get more families or fans who don’t usually come to the later meets,” Marsden said.

In honor of

The Utes are wearing teal hair ribbons for the remainder of the season in support of victims and survivors of sexual assault.Last week several team members expressed shock and sadness over the case of Larry Nassar, the former team doctor for USA Gymnastics who has been sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison in a widespread child sexual abuse case.

The gymnasts wore the ribbons for the first time on Friday against Arizona and released a statement on Twitter that stated:

“As we grace the floor tonight,we are honored to show support for the victims and survivors of sexual assault. We grieve with those who have experienced such tragedy. We remain optimistic that the power of speaking out will ignite the integrity to create change.”

Lineup set?

After some struggles against Oregon State, Utah’s beam lineup performed extremely well against Arizona scoring a 49.4. The event has been the most inconsistent for the Utes this season, and Marsden hopes now she has found her lineup that begins with senior Maddy Stover.

“Having Maddy up there with that walk through builds confidence,”Marsden said. “She did it again and then [Alexia Burch] was set up beautifully and worked confidently and stuck her dismount for a 9.9. It was a good effort.”

In the rankings

The Utes are third with a 197.244 average behind Oklahoma (197.733) and LSU (197.306). Brigham Young is No. 18 with a195.625 average. The Utes are ranked second on the vault (49.467), thirdon the uneven bars (49.288), ninth on the balance beam (49.094) and first on the floor (49.45).

Utah’s MyKayla Skinner is fourth in the all-around (39.569) and MaKenna Merrell-Giles is fifth (39.537). Skinner is third on the vault and fifth on the uneven bars with a 9.919 average, and Merrill-Giles is sixth on the vault (9.906) and fourth on the floor (9.931).

Around the state

Brigham Young, coming off a season high in a 196.45-192.7 win over Air Force, competes at No. 11 Denver on Saturday. Utah State, which lost to Denver 196.675-195.0, hosts No. 16 Boise State on Friday. Southern Utah hosts No. 20 Central Michigan on Friday as the Thunderbirds search for their first win of the season. SUU lost to Boise State 195.475-193.475 Friday.