Utah Utes women's gymnastics: Kyndal Robarts' toughness a key to her success

Handstands are a basic element of gymnastics, even those performed on top of the uneven bars.

A handstand doesn't look scary compared to other big-time gym skills, but for Ute Kyndal Robarts, "Well, it kind of is because, you go over, there's not much you can do about it, so I think you worry about hitting it right on."

There have been times when the talented junior from San Marcos, Texas, couldn't make Utah's all-around lineup because her bars handstands were not straight and strong.

"Every week I was stressed out whether I was going to be in or out," she said as she and her teammates practiced in preparation for the 2010 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships at the University of Florida on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

That activated her competitive nature — which she says she gets from her "feisty" mother, Dawn, who steered Kyndal to Utah in the first place because she rightfully thought her daughter would like performing before Utah's huge crowds and like the coaching staff.

"In my head, if I think someone's going to beat me out of the lineup, I work harder," said Robarts. "It just motivates me.

"It made me work harder, really want to get those handstands, because it wasn't just a matter of if I hit my routine I'd be in the lineup. I had to hit my handstands to be in the lineup," she said.

"We changed the way we did the workouts so that if you didn't hit a handstand, your routines didn't count much, and I think it helped, too, because it made me go for them rather than, 'I just need to get through the routine.' " Despite two bouts with strep throat, Robarts got herself right with the handstands and not only returned to the all-around lineup but became one of Utah's best all-arounders and leaders.

"I just think as the season went on, I got a lot more confident with my routines, which really did allow me to focus on the little details, which were my major deductions throughout the beginning of the season. Being able to know I could hit my routine before I went in helped me do the small details" like handstands, which she calls the "biggest small detail" of all.

Her dramatic all-around performance on a newly sprained ankle when coaches and trainer thought she'd be lucky to do one event, maybe two, in the April 10 NCAA regional at Utah was an inspiration to her team and helped the then-10th-ranked Utes qualify so easily for the national championships that they moved up to the fifth seed for this week.