Utah Utes gymnastics: Red Rocks need to clean up to keep up

McAllister on beam got 9.80 from one judge, 9.60 from the other. Cortni Beers went next and had the same, but opposite, thing happen, 9.60 from the judge that gave McAllister 9.80, and 9.80 from the one who'd given McAllister 9.60. Similar for Nebraska — vaulter Kristin Fyffe and floor worker Maddie Steinauer got 9.85/9.70 scores, beamer Maria Scaffidi got 9.90/9.75. One's a pretty good score; the other's just average. For the Utes, discrepancies were even bigger in their Feb. 19 meet at Michigan.

Greg Marsden understands it to an extent, saying that on bars, for instance, one judge might deduct .1 for short handstands, while another might take only .05. That can add up. "On beam, it can be one judge gave a connection and the other judge didn't give a connection. One can see bent knees, and the other didn't," he said.

It is "perplexing" at times to him, especially when the scores flip flop, as in the case with McAllister and Beers, because he hopes judges are consistent throughout the meet with their deductions.

It vexes Megan Marsden and the athletes because they're trying to get a read on what the judges want. They're never allowed to speak to the judges, who are assigned by a national distributor, so they're mainly guessing at what changes to make. "It's definitely made it hard in terms of coaching and improving routines," she said. "It's been difficult to figure out how to address it."

RANKINGS: Bijak ranks 13th in all-around (39.335) with SUU's Elise Wheeler (39.30) falling to 15th from 11th. Robarts is tied for fifth in vault (9.920), and DiLuzio (9.910) is tied for fifth on floor.

Bijak missed Monday's practice, still ill from Friday, but is expected back Tuesday, said Greg Marsden.

NCAA women's gymnastics rankings

By Regional Qualifying Score

Team RQS average high score

1. Alabama 197.155 196.800 197.450

2. Oklahoma 196.920 196.800 197.950

3. UCLA 196.900 196.438 197.875

4. Florida 196.685 196.478 197.550

5. Georgia 196.615 196.400 197.900

6. Stanford 196.450 196.211 196.800

7. Arkansas 196.375 196.186 197.025

8. Oregon State 196.355 196.172 196.925

9. Utah 196.220 196.014 196.575

10. LSU 196.110 195.839 196.925

21. S. Utah 194.960 194.738 195.425

35. BYU 193.880 193.663 195.350

52. Utah State 190.555 188.533 191.650