Utah gymnastics notes: Utes feel urgency to improve

Utah's gymnastics team knows it needs to improve in its last two meets, but where that improvement needs to be made is a bit of a mystery.

Rather than having one troublesome event or struggling gymnast, the Utes are making minor mistakes in a variety of unpredictable places. While the mistakes are small enough they haven't prevented the Utes from winning, they are big enough to have the team concerned they aren't performing at the level they should be with two meets remaining.

"We have the talent, and they are doing a good job training," Utah coach Greg Marsden said. "But they are making bonehead mistakes, too. That is what you get with a team primarily made of freshmen and sophomores. Thank goodness we have three strong seniors too who have been consistent for the most part throughout the year."

With just two regular-season meets left —Friday's against Nebraska and then a road trip to No. 1 Florida — the seventh-ranked Utes don't have long to straighten out their issues. However, they are hopeful it won't take much either.

Following Friday's 196.575-195.6 win over Oregon State, senior Kyndal Robarts acknowledged that maybe the team had started to feel some pressure of living up to its previous No. 1 ranking and the hype that was building around the team.

"We need to stop worrying about expectations," she said. "We didn't have any at the beginning, and we need to go back to that and just be the team we can be."

In the rankings • There were few changes in the rankings, with Alabama and Georgia trading places at No. 4 and No. 5 and LSU moving into a tie with Oregon State at No. 9. Kentucky joined the ranks, knocking out West Virginia. ... Corrie Lothrop is Utah's highest ranking all-arounder at No. 11 (39.325). ... Kailah Delaney is ranked No. 10 on the vault (9.905).

No more • Freshman Georgia Dabritz competed in the all-around for the first time Friday, but she fell off the balance beam twice and scored just 8.6. Marsden said it's unlikely he'll put her in the lineup again.

"At this point in the season we need to start working on who is going to be in the lineup for the postseason with the Pac-12s and regionals coming," he said. "I like who we have in our lineups, so they're fairly set." —

Top 25

Ranking team RQS Previous

1. Florida 197.33 1

2. Oklahoma 197.31 2

3. UCLA 197.085 3

4. Alabama 196.925 5

5. Georgia 196.915 4

6. Nebraska 196.795 6

7. Utah 196.555 7

8. Arkansas 196.545 8

9. Oregon State (9) and LSU (10) 196.405

11. Stanford 196.025 12

12. Penn State 195.995 11

13. Ohio State 195.94 14

14. Missouri 195.79 13 13

15. Boise State 195.75 16

16. Auburn 195.735 15

17. Arizona 195.525 17

18. Minnesota 195.47 18

19. Illinois 195.36 21

20. Michigan 195.345 23

21. North Carolina State 195.335 20

22. Denver 195.27 19

23. Arizona State 195.145 22

24. Washington 195.025 25

25. Kentucky 194.93 NR