Upperclassmen, freshmen coming together

Until about 2 1/2 weeks ago, the University of Utah's gymnastics team was really two separate groups — the upperclassmen and the freshmen.

Gymnastics doesn't require the kind of teamwork it takes for one person to pass to another or to set a screen or block out, but it's such a mental game that it's much better if the team is of one mind.

Until a few weeks ago, said coach Greg Marsden, the freshmen were feeling under-appreciated by the returnees and the upperclassmen felt like the youngsters weren't pulling their weight because several opened the season in poor shape from a variety of reasons.

"There was some animosity between the groups," he said, relieved that has disappeared recently, especially with No. 1-ranked Florida in the Huntsman Center Friday night at 7. The Gators are the country's last undefeated team, 12-0-1. Utah is 8-2, ranked seventh. "Finally I'm beginning to feel like it's a group effort, trying to help each other rather than blame."

It began changing at Georgia Feb. 16 as some of the freshmen began making bigger contributions, and Sunday's meet at Nebraska, even though it was a loss, was another big step, an addition by subtraction.

Injuries that kept senior Nicolle Ford from traveling to Nebraska and limited sophomore Kristina Baskett to two events, plus the injury that kept freshman three-event contributor Annie DiLuzio home, provided opportunities for freshmen Stephanie Neff, Jamie Deetscreek and Sarah Shire to do more events. Freshmen Daria Bijak and Beth Rizzo continued to do the events they'd been doing. (Bijak missed Tuesday practice with illness.)

Those five all had positive results, and for the first time this season, the Utes got through a meet without having to count a fall and in fact finished the first 23 routines without a fall until junior Ashley Postell dropped from the beam as the last competitor.

Neff, who led off the meet on bars with a 9.75 debut and also scored 9.80 in her third counting floor routine, said she is suddenly feeling like a valued member of the team. "I feel a lot better now," she said, adding she sometimes "felt like I was a cheerleader" before. "Now I'm contributing instead of watching," she said.

The pressure was on her, "and I'm proud with how I handled it," she said.

Deetscreek made her vault debut at 9.65 and added 9.75 in her second beam outing, and it made all the difference to her. "I did get a chance to contribute a couple meets ago, but this one seemed a lot more important because it was a better team," she said. "Now that I showed I can help out the team, I feel like it's made me a better gymnast.