When the Utah gymnastics team experienced two season-ending injuries early this season, MaKenna Merrell knew it was her time to step up. A year after competing on mostly floor exercise, Merrell has grown into a solid contributor for the Red Rocks in her sophomore season and has appeared in the all-around 10 times heading into the NCAA Championships in St. Louis on April 14.

Merrell, who is known for her great artistry and huge tumbling on floor exercise, made her debut on the uneven bars in her first meet this season and has posted consistent performances each week. She is one of two Utes competing a vault that starts out at a 10.0 and has scored a 9.800 or better on nine out of her 10 routines this season. Her Yurchenko 1 1/2 is an upgraded vault from last season, when she competed a Yurchenko full.

After finishing ninth at the NCAA Championships last year, the Utes will be counting on a steady performance from Merrell to advance to the Super Six next week against a semifinal field consisting of Denver, Oklahoma, Oregon State, UCLA, and Washington.



FloGymnastics: What is the biggest takeaway from regionals that you'll use heading into nationals?
MaKenna Merrell: Just that every turn counts, including warm-ups just to feel that confidence before you go and when you actually compete. So just making every single turn count, especially in the practice day too when you're learning to feel the new equipment.

How does the adversity your team faced in the regular season, especially the injuries early in the season, help prepare you for the postseason?
Well, this year we worked really hard with having every single person on our team able to do every event, which has paid off because we've had a couple of injuries and we've had girls who are able to step up and take that girl's place [who] is no longer able to compete. I think our coaches have done a great job with making sure that when we do little intrasquads or show routines in practice that every single person does them in case something like that happens.

What is the best piece of advice you've been given throughout your career?
Probably just to have fun because we only have four years here. Our gymnastics careers are winding down, so just making every moment count and making it special because we have so many fun moments in college. Even though four years may seem like a long time while you're going through it, it's really short. I cannot believe that my sophomore season is almost over. I feel like I'm still a freshman, but I'm about to be an upperclassman. Just making sure that everything we do as a team and every meet [we're] just making it count.

How do you bounce back from a fall during a competition?
I try focus on making the next event like a new day. You're starting over.  And being there for my team because if I fall, it does affect the team. So if I can keep my attitude good and just move on from it, I can worry about it later. But in the moment I need to be focused on the next event and how to recover from that. Just keeping a positive attitude. [Utes co-head coach Megan Marsden] always does a great job, if I do fall, of telling me to keep a good attitude and be there for my team.

How much have the issues during last year's NCAA semifinal session fueled your team heading into nationals this year?
We'll just do what we usually do because that was pretty uncharacteristic of what we did last year. We're not focusing on that, because we're a new team from last year. We have different girls, and most of us have different routines. So just focusing on what we have been doing because our preparation into these bigger meets has been good. So just keep doing our normal stuff and keep hitting and being confident with our routines.

What has been the biggest challenge for you personally this season?
Just to continue to have confidence in myself and my abilities and keep reminding myself that I can do this, that I worked hard over the summer and in preseason. And then just to be there for my team and to remember it's not so much about the individual, it's about the team and trying to be my best self for my team.

What is your favorite event to perform on and why?
I love floor just because in college especially you can have fun and play with the crowd and just smile. The choreography is fun, too.

What is your favorite skill to perform on any event?
My Deltchev on bars. It's a new skill that I learned over the summer, and it's really fun.

What is the most challenging skill that you've learned and what made it challenging for you?
Probably my full-in on floor. I'm not really a powerful gymnast, so it just took me longer to learn the correct technique in order to do it well every time.

How would you describe yourself in three words?
Passionate, happy, and easygoing.

What are you most looking forward to at nationals next weekend?
There's just something about nationals that has a different feel, obviously because it's the last meet of the season, the last time we'll be competing with the seniors. So this has a different feel to it, and I don't even know how to describe it. It's just so fun. You're there for longer. You're trying to make the most of it, because it's the last time traveling that season and then obviously with it being nationals… I don't know how to put it into words; it's just so fun to be there. The environment around nationals is just unbeatable. It's just amazing to be in the arena and then in the hotel, during the practice days, and then being up on podium is really cool.


Related:
Recapping The Action: NCAA Gymnastics Regionals
2017 NCAA Championships Rotation Order For Semifinals & Super Six
2017 NCAA Championships Field Set