On Monday night the Utah Red Rocks put on an incredible show against the Arizona Gymcats, beating them 197.150 to 194.850. Everything seemed to click for Utah, and they put on a show for the home crowd.

Photo: GymShark

With all-arounder Kari Lee out for the season after a torn achilles' in practice last week, fans were anxious to see how the Red Rocks would bounce back. The Gymcats traveled to the Jon M. Huntsman Center for the first Monday night meet there in over a decade and faced off against Utah in front of a nearly full stadium.

They started the meet off strong with stellar performances on vault and bars. Junior Selynna Felix-Terrazas led the team on bars, scoring a season high of 9.85, followed by sophomores Victoria Ortiz and Kennady Schneider, and junior Gabrielle Laub. The team finished bars with 49 points (only .075 of a point behind Utah) and moved into vault, where Shelby Edwards led the team with her 9.825. Freshman Lauryn Mattson and sophomore Maddy Cindric followed with scores of 9.8 and the Gymcats finished their second event with a team total of 97.95.



Meanwhile, Utah was working with an adjusted lineup and replaced Lee in the all-around with senior Breanna Hughes and sophomore Samantha Partyka. Senior Kailah Delaney tied the vault win with Edwards and the rest of the team finished close behind her, scoring a collective 49.075. The team gained momentum as they moved into uneven bars, earning two 9.9s from senior Kassandra Lopez and junior Bailey Rowe, who was named last week's Pac-12 Specialist of the Week. The crowd's excitement grew as the Red Rocks posted a bars score of 49.425.



Moving into the third round, the Gymcats took to the floor and the Red Rocks headed over to beam. Freshman Sabrina Schwab explained that the team felt as though they were doing their routines for Kari, to make her proud because she couldn't compete, and credited that as part of their motivation. Hughes and Rowe both posted 9.85, followed by 9.8 from Lopez and 9.775 from Delaney. Arizona had a great floor performance, scoring 48.8, led by senior Jessie Sisler , who posted a score of 9.85. Senior Lexi Mills followed with a score of 9.775 and the team earned two 9.75s from Cindric and Felix-Terrzas.



The fourth rotation was where things started to get exciting. Arizona scored 48.8 on beam, earning two 9.825 from Mills and Edwards, to round off their score for the night at 194.85. But Utah on the floor was both the surprise and the highlight of the night.

Photo: GymShark

Freshman MaKenna Merrell opened the lineup with her season high of 9.85, followed by sophomore Tiffani Lewis posting 9.875. The crowd started to get loud as Delaney scored 9.9 and both the team's and the stadium's energy skyrocketed from there. Schwab, who was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week for the second time this season after Monday's meet, posted a career high of 9.95. Hughes' 9.925 won her the all-around and title of MVP. And for the grand finale, the crowd exploded as Samantha Partyka brought in a career high 9.975.



The team's 49.625 was their highest season floor score to date and their overall score of 197.150 was also the best of the season. They'll need to keep the momentum up as they hit the road to face no. 4 UCLA this weekend. Arizona will go up against California.

See videos here and results here.