Utah Utes gymnastics: Jacq Johnson producing for gym team

SALT LAKE CITY — Senior Jacq Johnson has spent much of her Utah gymnastics career watching from the sidelines, trying to recover from one injury or another.

This season, a concussion kept her out of a couple of meets.

But last Friday, Johnson came back so strongly that she could soon get a chance for her first career all-around appearance.

For just the second time in her career Friday against Michigan, she did all four events, though two were as exhibition, so only her bars (9.775) and floor (9.75) scores counted toward the team total. She started off with a 9.80 vault exhibition and added a 9.775 beam score that didn't count. Both of those scores were better than two teammates whose scores did count.

That leaves coach Greg Marsden with this week's practices to determine if Johnson should get into the lineup more, even into the all-around, on Friday when Utah travels to Utah State.

"We'll just have to see how things go in workout," he said. "She's making progress. She's working hard to do that, and I've got to reward her for that at some point, I think, and give her a shot (at all-around)."

Johnson did all four events — three to count — at Nebraska, exhibitioning on beam, the first time she had ever done all four. Then she had the concussion in practice and missed the next two meets, returning on two events against Washington Feb. 11 and doing all four last Friday.

"It was nice to get another experience because I'm hoping in one meet I'll get to count all four," she said, adding that she felt she competed like she practices, "so that was a real big positive and a confidence booster for me."

She was happiest with her beam routine. "I had some mistakes, and I had a wobble, but just being able to keep myself mentally strong and confident when I was up there is a real big improvement that I've been able to make this season. It helped me to believe that I was a good beam-worker.

Beam actually used to be one of my better events when I was in club," she said.

NAME GAME: To lighten things up, the Ute gymnasts will sometimes poke fun at themselves by wearing name tags of famous people. One time, everyone wore masking-tape nameplates of rappers.

Monday, junior Cortni Beers made up name tags of presidents to fit with the holiday.