SALT LAKE CITY -- The University of Utah Red Rocks are heading to the National Championship for the 43rd consecutive time after winning the NCAA Salt Lake City Regional Saturday.
According to Utah Gymnastics, the team scored 197.475 Saturday to secure the win. This will be the team's 43rd consecutive trip to the National Championship.
“The start on floor was incredible," Utah Head Coach Tom Farden said. "The one thing we talked to them about was sometimes when you start a meet—and I was watching warmups and a couple of them were doing things that were a little uncharacteristic—I just told them to breathe a little bit. The term that I coined was controlled aggression, and I thought they did a good job of controlling the aggression out there. To win floor on the first rotation with a 49.6, we were really pleased with that.”
California finished second at 196.725 while Auburn came in third at 196.525.
BYU and Stanford rounded out the Top 5 with 196.300 and 195.600 respectively, and Southern Utah placed sixth with 194.625.
Utah's MyKayla Skinner won the Regional All-Around, scoring 39.650, while teammate MaKenna Merrell-Giles came in third with a 39.550. Stanford's Elizabeth Price joined the Utah gymnasts on the podium, finishing second in the All-Around with 39.575 points.
“I enjoyed every moment of it and seeing all the smiles on everyone’s faces, and our team just starting on floor and vault really, really well," Skinner said. "It was just cool to go back into the rooms and relax and pick everything back up for bars and beam; it was a really exciting moment in time. Also, Missy killed it, so that was so cool to watch and it was really fun overall. I am really proud of how we did and we made it to nationals.”
The 2018 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championship is scheduled for April 20 and 21 in St. Louis, Missouri.
