Utah Shows Upgraded Vaults and Big 'E' Tumbling in Preseason Training

Utah Shows Upgraded Vaults and Big 'E' Tumbling in Preseason Training

The Utah Utes look to improve on a sixth-place NCAA semifinal finish this past season with an influx of talented freshman, improved vaults, and big "E" tumbling.

Nov 20, 2016 by Justine Kelly
Utah Shows Upgraded Vaults and Big 'E' Tumbling in Preseason Training
The Utah Utes had a disappointing end to their 2016 season. After ranking No. 5 nationally at the end of the regular season, the team had some uncharacteristic mistakes at the NCAA semifinals to finish in sixth place and out of reach of the Super Six finals.

The Utes also said goodbye to some of their top performers this year, including graduating seniors Breanna Hughes, Kassandra Lopez, and Kailah Delaney, in addition to Samantha Partyka, who retired due to injuries. For the upcoming season, the team will be looking to start fresh with three newcomers, a huge sophomore class, and its experienced upperclassmen. We have gotten a glimpse of some of Utah's preseason training and have provided a summary of what we can expect from the team this season.

Upping the game on vault


Looking back at NCAA semifinals this past season, one of the events that Utah struggled on was vault. While the Utes had no major errors, they had little mistakes here and there which cost them valuable 10ths. Part of the reason this was a problem was because the majority of their lineup competed Yurchenko fulls, so the vaults already started from a lower value. This was in contrast to some of the other teams which had more 10.0 vaults in their lineups. Hughes, who has since graduated, was the only one in the lineup competing a Yurchenko 1 1/2. It is also worth noting that Utah has lost four gymnasts from its vault lineup this season, which is a huge number, so the Utes will be looking to start fresh this season.

In early November, we got a sneak peak of some preseason vault training from the Utes, and it looks like there are several upgrades in the works, in addition to some newcomers who are training 10.0 vaults. Senior Baely Rowe and sophomores Erika Muhaw and Makenna Merrell are training the Yurchenko 1 1/2, which is an upgrade for all of them. Sophomore Sabrina Schwab, who did not compete vault this past season, is training a Yurchenko 1 1/2 tucked -- a 10.0 vault. It's also likely that we'll see freshman Mykayla Skinner on this event, since she's capable of huge difficulty as we've seen from her elite days.

Check out the footage from the Utes' recent training session below -- and all their stuck landings:



Freshmen Stepping in on Bars


Bars has always been one of Utah's best events. Last season, the Utes ranked No. 4 in the country, and they were No. 1 the year before. They have lost three key members of their lineup from this past season -- Hughes, Partyka ,and Lopez. From a recent training video, we've seen that the Utah freshmen have been doing well in training, particularly Kim Tessen and Missy Reinstadtler. Both gymnasts showed off beautiful Jaeger release moves. Check out Tessen's full routine below, which looks close to perfection:



In addition to a few of the freshmen potentially being in the lineup, we can also expect the return of Schwab, Rowe, and Tiffani Lewis to the lineup. Rowe was the highest-ranked Utah gymnast nationally a year ago, coming in at No. 17. From Schwab, we can expect to see a few new skills, including an upgraded dismount. Check out the video below from a recent training session:



Big 'E' Tumbling on Floor


As we highlighted a few weeks ago, the Utes are training some huge tumbling skills on floor. The team only lost two gymnasts from its lineup at the end of this past season -- Hughes and Partyka -- so it will be quite competitive to make it into the lineup for this upcoming season. The biggest tumbling we saw from the recent training video came from Skinner, who is capable of competing both a full twisting double back and a double twisting double back. Reinstadtler, Merrell, and sophomore transfer Macey Roberts are all training double Arabians, Muhaw and Tessen are training double layouts, and Schwab is training a triple twist. We also saw full twisting double backs from Merrell and Lewis.


Solid Beam Series


Beam is the event that the Utes struggled on the most during semifinals when two gymnasts suffered falls, setting the team back from the competition. They have a lot of spots to fill this year after losing Delaney, Hughes, Lopez, and Partyka from their core lineup.

We caught a glimpse of some preseason training on the event the other day, showing a triple series from Merrell, Rowe, Schwab, and Kari Lee. Both Merrell and Rowe are training two back-handsprings into layout stepout, while Schwab is training a front aerial to back-handspring, layout stepout. Lee is training back-handspring, 2 layout stepouts and was actually Utah's highest-ranked beam worker in 2015, but she suffered an Achilles tear last season that kept her out all year. 

Check out a video from Utah's beam training below:




Related:
Utah Adds Trio of Talented Freshmen
Utes Fly High with 10 Huge 'E' Tumbling Passes
Inside NCAA Rivalries: Utah vs. Georgia
NCAA Preseason Training Updates: LSU
Oklahoma Ups the Game with Big Vaults, 'E' Tumbling, and Creative Combos
Georgia Works to Replace Star Seniors with Impressive Preseason Training
UCLA Training Big Gymnastics with Impressive 2016-17 Roster

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