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Utah junior Kailah Delaney admits she feels a big responsibility as the anchor of Utah's vault lineup, where standouts Tory Wilson and Georgia Dabritz have set her up perfectly with tremendous vaults all season.
But rather than a letdown, Delaney has delivered one huge vault after another to help the Utes rank as the nation's top vaulting team.
"It's an event that comes natural to her," Utah coach Greg Marsden said. "She has a good feel for it, and it's a quick event so she doesn't have a lot of time to think."
Thinking too much used to be a downfall of Delaney's, but her work with a sport psychologist has helped her shut out the chatter in her head while good old-fashioned hard work in the gym has helped her, too. It was during one practice session several weeks ago that she figured out her vault.
"I was always trying to look for my landing and kind of guessing it," she said. "Greg just told me to start looking for it, open my eyes, and that made a huge difference. I started seeing it early, and everything just clicked. I've been sticking them in practice, and that has made me more confident in competitions."
Delaney's confidence has poured into other events, too. She and Dabritz have been vying for a spot in the balance beam lineup where Dabritz edged ahead of her in recent meets.
But now with Wilson sidelined by injuries, Delaney goes from being a competitive alternate to competitor on the beam.
She is ready to pay Wilson back for all those good vault setups by making sure there isn't a dropoff in the scores.
"I know I need to help my team out in her spot," she said. "She was such a strong competitor, but our team has a lot of depth and we can do it."
One of Delaney's biggest supporters is Dabritz, who has been her close friend since they arrived on campus.
While the competition between them for the spot in the beam lineup was fierce, Dabritz said they never stopped supporting each other.
"She pushes everyone to be their best, but that is her personality to do that," Dabritz said. "We don't take anything personally."
Delaney is also pushing for a spot in the uneven bars lineup, something that has her about as happy as her other achievements this season.
She suffered a serious arm injury on the uneven bars several years ago and is only now getting her confidence back. She might not make it into the lineup this year, but performing in exhibition was still an achievement for her.
"I always thought of it as my weakest event, but I don't feel that way now," she said. "Just to be out there at all makes me happy."
The Utes are happy to have her, too.
"She has been on a tear lately," Marsden said. "But that is what is good about this team — we have a lot of people ready to step up."
NCAA Gymnastics Regionals
P April 4, 7 p.m. MDT
Berkeley, Calif.
Utah, Georgia, Boise State, Cal, Utah St., BYU