TEMPE, Ariz.—Utah gymnastics co-head coach
Tom Farden worried a little that his No. 5 Utes might have a letdown in Tempe following last Saturday's emotional win over No. 4 UCLA. His team put those fears to rest right from the start en route to a season high road score and a 197.600-194.850 romp over Arizona State.
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"That was a great road meet and I'm really proud that we kept our intensity up after last week," said Farden. "We incentivized practice on Tuesday to stay in a competitive mindset. We played a game where if we hit enough sets as a team, the team would get a Wednesday morning off (from conditioning). They hit all their sets."
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The team camaraderie continued today with the Utes clicking on almost every routine against ASU, especially on their first event where they scored a season-high 49.675 on bars. Hometown heroes
Kari Lee (Peoria, Ariz.) and
MyKayla Skinner (Gilbert, Ariz.) scored a 9.975 and 9.95, respectively, and
Tiffani Lewis scored a 9.95. All three achieved career highs on the event, as did
MaKenna Merrell (9.875) and
Missy Reinstadtler (9.875).
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"Bars was really sharp," said Farden. "Several of our kids have really stepped it up on that event in recent weeks. We had a few steps on vault landings and were a little tight in some places on floor—although we had three outstanding routines—and then beam was fantastic."
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The crowd of 2,194 in the Wells Fargo Arena—most of them Utah fans—gave the competition a home meet flavor. Skinner, who was mobbed for autographs after the meet, won four of five possible individual titles, including the all-around (39.750), vault (9.90), beam (9.95) and floor (9.95). Lee completed the Ute title sweep with her win on bars.
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Skinner is undefeated this season in the all-around and on vault and increased her season victory total to 30 (of 40 possible). Finishing second to Skinner in the all-around with a 39.475 was
Baely Rowe. One of the biggest team cheers was reserved for sophomore
Shannon McNatt, who made the first start of her career and scored a 9.75 on vault.
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Up next for Utah is the final home meet of the season on Friday, Mar. 3 at 7 p.m. against Stanford.
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