Faced with the possibility of having Grace McCallum out of the lineup for an extended period of time, Utah gymnastics coach Tom Farden wasn’t panicking and going over possible lineups and scenarios to make up for the star.
Nope, he was doing his usual at the start of the week, taking advantage of the schedule to hit the road recruiting.
Replacing McCallum? Well, his fervent recruiting in the past hopefully will take care of that issue.
McCallum, Utah’s Olympian who has had such a strong start to the 2023 season, suffered a severe knee injury in Saturday’s win in Fort Worth. The Utes on Wednesday got good news: the injury was a hyperextension and not a tear. Still, there is no timeline for McCallum’s return to competition.
Replacing her scores is a huge challenge for the Utes, but Farden seems optimistic all the depth he has recruited will pay off now.
No. 4 Utah at No. 20 Arizona St.
Monday, 1 p.m.
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Utah can get junior Lucy Stanhope back in the lineup after she had sat out the last two meets with a heel bruise.
As for the other lineups, the Utes have several options. On Saturday, Sage Thompson scored a 9.875 in McCallum’s place on bars, freshman Makenna Smith had a 9.8 on the beam and Abby Paulson scored a 9.875. The Utes also rested standout Maile O’Keefe on the floor and Kara Eaker scored a 9.9 in her place.
The scores were all part of an impressive rally by the Utes after losing McCallum when she landed the vault short.
The Utes won the meet with a 197.6 after scoring just 48.975 in the vault.
“In the years at Utah, I don’t remember a team bouncing back from scoring in the 48s in the opening rotation and completely torching the next events,” Farden said.
That effort showed Farden the Utes had the will and skill needed to earn big scores. But will they be enough? That answer is out there in the tenths of deductions that will separate the elite at the end of the year.
To be sure, the Utes will have to continue to up their scores since Oklahoma (198.038), Florida (197.838) and Michigan (197.792), all are averaging more than the Utes (197.679) even before McCallum’s injury. How do the Utes make up that ground now?
Smith might be a big key to that answer. Smith, the freshman from Albuquerque, N.M., has been nothing short of outstanding in her rookie year, regularly scoring 9.85 or higher on the vault, bars and floor. Now a strong possibility for the beam, she likely is the one the Utes will hope can get even higher scores to make up for McCallum’s absence.
That is a lot of expectations to be placed on Smith, but so far all she has done is surpass expectations.
“To step in the all-around like that as a freshman, she was the show,” Farden said. “She is just so matter of fact. She is, “I am in, so here I am, so I am going to do my best.’”
Others will have to step up, too, like senior Abby Paulson, who is ready on everything but vault, and Kara Eaker, the sophomore who is so strong on beam and is finding her way through her floor routine, and Jaylene Gilstrap, a junior who is quietly thriving in the early sections of the lineups.
If the Utes can get an additional tenth here or there, they just might be able to make up for McCallum’s absence.
“We need to get a little more from everybody,” Farden said. “It’s going to be an all-hands-on-deck endeavor.”