 "Photo: Thien Sok")
After falling a little flat on the road to Washington last week, the Red Rocks recovered Friday in Arizona posting their highest road score and second highest overall score of the season, earning their fourth straight win.
Rising up to the challenge of creating more energy among themselves, the team soundly beat Arizona State with a score of 196.475-195.700.
“I thought we took a step forward,” said co-head coach Greg Marsden. “We did a good job of accomplishing the things we worked on this week.”
Being involved more in each team member’s routines and bringing their own energy rather than relying on a crowd was one of the main focuses this week that Marsden said the girls accomplished after a week of practice.
Not only did the Red Rocks improve from last week, but they also did so with several changes to the lineup.
On the uneven bars in the first rotation, Utah replaced regular all-around competitor Kyndal Robarts with Jacquelyn Johnson, who has only competed in exhibition on the event up until this point and earned a 9.75 to start the night off for Utah.
Daria Bijak earned a season high and event win on the bars with a score of 9.9. Stephanie McAllister also earned a career high on the event with a score of 9.85.
Despite a solid performance on the bars, the Red Rocks were trailing the Sun Devils after one event with a score of 49.025-48.975. It was the only time Utah trailed in the meet, as it came back with big performances the rest of the night.
The second event of the night, the vault, saw even more changes to the lineup. McAllister replaced Gael Mackie, who normally competes on three of the four events but only competed on the bars in Arizona, and Bijak moved from her normal lead-off position to the No. 2 spot in the lineup.
Bijak has been the first Utah gymnast to compete on the vault all season. Before the meet, Bijak informed coaches that she was ready to move down in the lineup, a move that gives her the opportunity to score higher.
“Daria told me she was ready to move down in the vault lineup, so we put her at No. 2,” Marsden said. “Next week, we’ll try to move her from two to three. I don’t know if we can get her to move much past that.”
Robarts earned her fourth consecutive event win on the vault with a score of 9.925. As a team, the Red Rocks earned their best vault score of the season with a 49.250 that gave them the lead for good.
On the floor, Katelyn Mohr replaced Mackie and earned a 9.6 after receiving deductions for a step out of bounds. The rest of the team put up solid performances—including a 9.875 from Annie DiLuzio—to compensate for the small deductions earning her an event win. This is the third time in five meets that DiLuzio has won the floor competition.
In the only event that didn’t see any lineup changes, the Red Rocks finished the meet on a high note, earning a season-high team score with a 49.150 on the balance beam. DiLuzio tied the career high she set last week in Washington with a 9.875, earning her another event win.
Bijak won the all-around for the third straight meet and tied her season high with a score of 39.40, and McAllister earned a career-high 39.175 in just her second all-around competition this season. Jamie Deetscreek, the other all-around competitor, tied McAllister’s score of 39.175.
Following the meet, the coaches said they were impressed with the way the team responded to the lineup changes.
“We have some options now, and I am going to have to use my gut each week to determine who is in the lineup in some places,” Marsden said.
The Red Rocks will return home for one week to take on Utah State this Friday, before going on the road again.
p.fieldsted@chronicle.utah.edu
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