Utah Utes gymnastics: Daria Bijak a key addition for Utah

SALT LAKE CITY — Math's loss was a big gain for Ute gymnastics.

Daria Bijak might have stayed home in Germany had she been able to figure out what math could have done for her.

"I was going to go (to college) in Cologne, study math. I love math, and I'm really good at it, but I guess I didn't really know what to do with it because I didn't want to be a teacher," said Bijak.

So — after having trained at Utah for a week in 2003 with her German national team as it prepared for the World Gymnastics Championships in Anaheim, Calif., and having kept in touch with Ute student manager Cameron Linford, now director of gymnastics operations — Bijak came to Utah in 2007.

"When I finished (high) school in Germany, I did not have a whole lot of plans with what I wanted to do, and this just looked like it could be a great experience. I did not know what to expect. I just went for it," said Bijak.

Bijak had supplemented her regular school classes by reading books and watching movies in English so she could communicate with friends she'd made in international gymnastics. And that made school in America easier and may have helped put her on a career path.

She is now a senior who will compete one final time in the Huntsman Center on Saturday starting at 6 p.m. in the NCAA North Central Regional that is the gateway to the NCAA championships April 22-24 at Florida.

Bijak, a 2008 Olympian and a member of two German World Championships teams, has tended to be at her best in NCAA postseason meets. In her final year, she's been more at peace with her gymnastics than ever before.

"As we started this season, or even in preseason, I felt like I'm ready for this last year. As we started competing, and I started doing better, it just feels good, and it makes me happy where I am right now," said Bijak. She set her career all-around high of 39.575 on March 12 and followed it up with back-to-back 39.525s at Florida on March 19 and against BYU to close the regular season on March 26.

In past postseasons, Bijak has twice recorded the highest score of anyone in the Utes' six-team preliminary sessions — on floor as a junior and on bars as a freshman — to help Utah qualify for the Super Six team championships. And she was all-around runner-up with a then-career-best 39.55 at the 2009 NCAA West Regional to help Utah qualify for nationals.