Utah Utes gymnastics: Utah signs 3 to gym squad

The University of Utah gymnastics team received three commitments Thursday, signing a Senior International Elite, a World Championships competitor and a Junior Olympian. Katelyn Mohr (Carmichael, Calif.), Chloe Sims (Brisbane, Australia) and Meg Whitney (Mesa, Ariz.) plan to join the Utes in the fall of 2009.

The trio will join a team that has won 10 national championships and has finished as the NCAA runner-up for the last three years.

Mohr, who qualified as a Senior International Elite in 2008, is a three-time USA National Championships qualifier (2006, 2007 and 2008). She won the all-around at the 2007 WOGA Classic, the 2008 California Classic (Level 10) and the 2008 Brestyans Invite. She also placed first on vault, bars and floor at the 2008 California Classic and won every event at the 2008 Brestyans Invite.

Sims competed for Australia at the 2007 World Championships. Her international portfolio includes a first-place all-around finish at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, a gold medal at the 2005 Australia vs. China duel and a first-place finish on vault in a meet against the Ukraine.

Originally a Salt Lake native, Whitney now lives in Mesa, Ariz., where she is an honor student (ranks in the top 3 percent of her class) at Red Mountain High School. Whitney trains at Desert Devils Gymnastics and she is coached by former Utah All-America gymnast Shelly (Schaerrer) Eaton, Geoff Eaton, Kristin Fanning and Wes Jones. Her parents are Laura Baker and David Whitney.

"Meg is an athlete who is just beginning to blossom and whose best gymnastics is still ahead," says Marsden. "Her early years were spent in Toronto competing at lower levels. Since moving to Arizona and competing for the Desert Devils, she has improved significantly over the past three years. Although she has gone for awhile, this is a local girl who is coming home."