Utah Utes gymnastics: No regrets for these Utes

Sophomore Kyndal Robarts came back early from a preseason shoulder injury to be strong and steady in three events. Sophomore Gael Mackie had her 9.925 moments on bars and did two all-arounds. Sophomore Jacq Johnson scored 9.825 at the regional on bars in just her second routine of the year and first on bars, in place of an ill Kim. And freshman Stephanie McAllister scored 9.80 in her first beam of the year in place of Kim. McAllister was a fixture on bars and did vault and floor about half the season.

The 197.80 at BYU was the ninth-best score in Ute history, followed by a 197.675 at the West Regional that was Utah's highest-ever postseason score and a 197.425 in last Friday's Super Six finals — its highest score ever at nationals.

But last Thursday, "We went in a little too tight," said Marsden, and had two falls and four wobbles on the second event, beam. They tied UCLA for the final qualifying spot to the Super Six and won the right to advance on a tiebreaker.

"Fortunately we got a chance that we probably didn't deserve or didn't earn," Marsden said. "We could have done better on beam (Friday), but that's a tough place to start. Our last two events (floor, vault), I don't think we could have done any better."

The season as a whole "was just a positive in every sense of the word," said Marsden. "Our goal was to win the championship. We didn't quite get that accomplished, (but) we have to be proud of everything we did accomplish."

E-MAIL: lham@desnews.com