Salt Lake City – All pressure was on the classified red rocks of the fourth.
Not only did UTA hosted one of the four regional NCAA championships and was the best classified team of Salt Lake City, but the pressure to continue a 48 -year -old sequence to go to the national championships has always been in the background of the coaches and gymnasts (and all those who follow the team).
The only thing on the way was a difficult regional final on Saturday evening.
And for the first two rotations of the night, this pressure went a little to the red rocks in a less than perfect start for the night. As such, the team found itself in third place in the middle of the competition.
“I think that some teams come to regional and they have nothing to lose; that’s it. You just go, and it’s a very liberating space to compete,” said UTAH head coach Carly Dockendorf. “And for us, there is something to lose. We do not want to lose this tradition of excellence, we do not want to be the team that does not succeed and does not end the sequence.”
The team with nothing to lose was Denver, who entered the competition as the only non -classified team and the one who has apparently the longest chance of switching to nationals. But a strong performance on the beam and the ground has put Denver in the lead after two rotations.
It is until the Red Rocks arrive on the ground.
Ashley Glynn and Ella Zirbes began the third rotation with consecutive scores of 9.850 before Avery Neff increases the bet with a score of 9.925 which started a trend with the remaining UTAs gymnasts.
Jaylene Giltrap added a 9,950, Makenna Smith at 9.925, then Grace McCallum closed the event by shortly missing her second perfect night score with a 9.975.
It was the Red Rocks who answered the call at the most appropriate time – especially since the two teams above the host team could not keep pace.
Utah entered the event by dragging Denver by 0.225 and in third place. But in the end, the red reds controlled an advance of 0.250 on UCLA n ° 5 and Denver – a massive swing of 0.725 point with Denver.
And then when the first year student Zoe Johnson put an exclamation point at night with a stick and a score of 9,950 in career in career on the jump as a gymnast final of Utah to compete, there was no doubt that the host team went to his 49th consecutive outlets with a 197.825.
The UCLA did just enough in the final rotation to win second place at the national championships, ending with a 197.625. Denver (197,350) finished third, while N ° 12 of Minnesota completed the scores with a 196.825.
“It was a competitive regional – as always. … Regionals is always an exciting and unpredictable event, and the best teams are able to adapt and adapt and move forward,” said Dockendorf. “But this group has just come this evening with a goal and a vision of what we are going to do, and at no time have we ever lost this vision and this goal. We just fought until the end.”
Makenna Smith said that the team had been able to “channel our nerves” and transform it into “energy”, while McCallum added that there was no “doubt or concern”.
“We excited and we let our competitive minds go out, which, I think, was the biggest change compared to everything we have known in the past,” said McCallum, who won the global competition with a 39.725.
Despite the solid finish, the Red Rocks had a difficult start at night, especially when the first -year phenomenon, Avery Neff, missed the high bar on the unequal bars and fell directly on the carpet below.
It was an unusual error, but which exerted additional pressure on the red rocks only three gymnasts in the night.
“I think it was important to give him a moment to breathe, in a way to meditate,” said McCallum. “But I know that Avery is one of those girls where she is wrong, she will use it to feed her fire and become more competitive throughout the competition. And so she managed it surprisingly and did her work the other three events.”
Dockendorf added: “She says,” I’m going to get ignited. “And I said, perfect.
Neff retreded and was the key to the return of Utah. The first star added a 9.90 on the beam, a career summit of 9.925 on the ground and a 9,850 on Vault.
However, the night belonged to McCallum.
Two days after obtaining its first 10.0 on the bars at the Huntsman Center in the regional semi-final, McCallum opted for the recall and followed his performance with a 10.0 to keep the Red Rocks nearby.
“I felt a little stressed, but I sort of left these nerves, I sort of put them aside and I just went up and I did what I can do,” said McCallum about his jump performance. “I really trusted my training and my – the practice I have put, and I let it go.”
“I think we all know, as in general, we have the back of the other, and we will be able to pick it up if something happens, but Grace is so stable,” added Smith. “We always know that she will be there, and so it’s really soothing to see when she is able to bring him back for us and we manage very well after.”
The senior gymnast added a 9,950 on the beam and a 9.975 on the ground for a special performance in the last time in competition at the Huntsman Center.
N ° 4 Utah
N ° 5 UCLA
N ° 12 minnesota
Denver
1st rotation: bars (49,425)
2nd rotation: beam (49,400)
3rd rotation: floor (49.625)
4th rotation: Vault (49.375)
Jump
Bars
Beam
Ground
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