In speaking about the chemistry of his team, Utah gymnastics coach Tom Farden casually mentions the team of 2020. That year the team seemed to have all the physical and mental qualities of a national championship squad. Unfortunately that team never had a chance at the title since the season was cut short due to COVID.
“We were clicking at the right time,” Farden said. “We don’t make any bones about it that we are trying to figure it out, what formula there is to come out on top. We keep tinkering with everything. There is no handbook for this stuff so we have to keep figuring it out.”
There is a sense like 2020, the Utes might have just figured it out this season, thus the comparison. Sure, teams like defending champion Oklahoma and SEC champion Florida will be hard to beat.
Getting out of the semifinal session will be a challenge in itself for the Utes since UCLA would love to avenge its earlier losses to the Utes by knocking Utah out of the competition, too.
“Every team that is there has earned the right to be there,” Farden said. “Nationals is like a thing in itself with a 0-0 clean slate and no one is going to sneak up on anyone else.”
But still, even with all the challenges ahead, there is a sense the Utes are heading into the big meet at the right time with the right mind frame.
No other team did as well as the Utes did in the regionals combined, putting Utah just behind Oklahoma in the rankings heading into the NCAAs.
The Utes also have what they believe is a favorable rotation, starting on the floor and ending on the beam, their best event.
Perhaps, just maybe, everything is lining up as it should for the Utes.
“I’m over the moon excited,” said Utah’s Abby Brenner, who transferred to the Utes from Michigan for her fifth year. “I have a good gut feeling. What I loved about that 2021 Michigan team is we won both days at regionals and we came out on a high. This team has the same vibe. I think we shocked a lot of people at regionals and showed Utah is here to play and here to win.”
What makes the Utes a particularly interesting team to watch is their upswing has been without Olympian Grace McCallum, who has been sidelined with a knee injury.
From the gymnasts’ perspective, they made it a challenge to improve even without McCallum and take pride in what they have done.
“Losing Grace was super sad because she is an unbelievable gymnast,” Jaylene Gilstrap said. “But we do have depth. Tom has preached from the beginning that we need eight or nine in our lineups consistently pushing to become better and we have done that.”
McCallum is back in training and might be available for the balance beam or the uneven bars. But would Farden risk upsetting the lineup’s mojo by using her? He isn’t answering that question directly, saying he wants to have available every athlete he can. He has a habit of making last minute switches, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if changes are made.
But the team as it is now might be all the Utes need, too.
“We are in a very good place as a team,” Jaedyn Rucker said. “We are the most confident we have been. This team has shown in past meets we are continuing to build more and more confidence. We are staying humble but this team has a lot of confidence.”
NCAA Championships
Thursday-Saturday
Fort Worth, Texas
TV: ESPN2
Radio: ESPN 700 (Utah session)
1 p.m. session: Denver (vault), Florida (uneven bars), LSU (balance beam), Cal (floor)
7 p.m. session: Kentucky (vault), Oklahoma (uneven bars), UCLA (balance beam, Utah (floor)
from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/cnZk5we
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