PREVIEW #6 Utah
PREVIEW #6 Utah
No. 6 ranked Utah kicks off its 2014 season this Saturday, Jan. 11 with a home quad meet. The Utes face Brigham Young, Southern Utah, and No. 23 Boise State in the Huntsman Center.
Utah’s preseason ranking is the 24th consecutive preseason top-six ranking since the poll’s inception in 1991. The Utes have a tough 2014 schedule facing ten opponents ranked in the preseason top 25: No. 4 UCLA, No. 7 Michigan, No. 8 Georgia, No. 9 Stanford, No. 12 Oregon State, No. 17 Arizona, No. 20 Washington, No. 22 California, No. 23 Boise State and No. 25 Arizona State.
After advancing into the Super Six for 13 consecutive years, the 2013 Utes were less than a tenth of a point out of first place entering their final event in the NCAA semifinals when a disastrous beam performance ended their impressive run.
Utah All American Georgia Dabritz/©GymShark
Utah has a deep 2014 roster and will be a team to watch returning all 24 routines from last season. The Utes have a school-record nine All-Americans, including first-team All-American Georgia Dabritz. Last season, Tory Wilson became the first gymnast in program history to go undefeated on an event in the regular season, winning all 10 vault titles prior to postseason. Returning to competition after missing the majority of last season with injuries are All-Americans Kailah Delaney and Corrie Lothrop. Lothrop is a five-time All-American and the 2012 Pac-12 all-around champion. Lothrop will compete only on beam and bars to start the season while she continues her recovery from a torn Achilles. Baely Rowe, team’s only freshman, was the 2013 J.O all-around champion.
Utah Head Coach Greg Marsden opens his 39th season with a 994-199-7 career record and needs six wins to become the sport’s first 1,000-win coach. Marsden says, “The team is in great shape and excited to start the season. We have everyone back from last year and the motivation level has been extremely high in the preseason. There is a lot of intra-squad competition and there are some positions up for grabs on every event. It’s nice to start the season off at home and there will be some very good gymnastics from the four teams competing Saturday.”