The "Red Rocks" slogan Utah used to tout its gymnastics hardbodies this season turned out to be just as appropriate in another way: The Utes held together like granite in the face of some devastating circumstances.
In fact, the thing about this "storybook" championship season that stands out most in coach Greg Marsden's mind is, "the consistency - every meet going in and doing a good job, and the kids expecting that as much as I did."A lot of years," Marsden says, "I expect it, but they don't. This year, they did, too. They competed under all kinds of circumstances and got progressively better."
The circumstances:
- Vaulter Meredith King's shin splints become too painful, and she sits out from Feb. 2-April 11. The first meet without her, Utah ups its school record to 195.75.
- Senior all-arounder Shelly Schaerrer falls onto her neck from bars in practice and misses the Feb. 24 meet at Utah State. The Utes hit their highest road score yet, 195.65.
- Suzanne Metz, freshman with an all-around high of 39.15, injures soft tissue in the arch of her right foot in Feb. 28 practice and is out for the season. In the first meet without her, Utah has another school record, 196.20.
- Freshman Aimee Trepanier "pops" her sternum in warmups for the Western Athletic Conference meet at Provo and can't compete. Then the biggest blow of the season: Schaerrer lands wrong on her double-back somersault in floor exercise in the WAC meet and sprains an ankle so badly it's feared her career is over. Utah wins the WAC with the highest road score in NCAA history, 196.85, as junior Kristen Kenoyer establishes another NCAA all-around record (39.75), and she and senior Missy Marlowe each score 10s.
- With King and Trepanier back but without Schaerrer and Metz, Utah sets the current NCAA record (197.075) to win the Midwest Regional and earn the No. 1 seed to the NCAA Championships in St. Paul, Minn.
- At St. Paul last weekend, still without Metz but with Schaerrer scoring 9.9 in her only event, bars, landing a dismount on that ankle for the first time in a month and sticking it well enough to draw a 10 from one judge, the Red Rocks stone the championships. They win the national team title (their eighth), Kenoyer ties for the NCAA vault title and Marlowe wins the all-around, bars, beam (a tie) and floor titles in an unprecedented sweep. Utah wins every championship available with NCAA-Finals record scores for team (195.65), all-around (39.65) and floor (9.975).
In his post-finals team meeting, Marsden tells his team to keep things in perspective and "not overexaggrate the importance of the championship. That's not what we're about," he said. If they'd finished first, second, third or whatever, "As long as we did our best and worked hard, it would have been a successful year," he told the Utes.
He absolves those who had mistakes in the championship meet, saying the Utes wouldn't have gotten where they were without them, and he tells Metz to feel as much a part of the title as anyone. If she hadn't been so good, others might not have pushed so hard to keep up.
Marsden says the indications that something special was possible were there ever since the start of practice in September. "We knew we were going to be very deep right from the get-go - but little did we know we were going to need every bit of that to get through the season," he says.
Three things made a rock-solid team.
"The big thing was it was so competitive in the gym," Marsden says, citing the freshmen (Metz, Trepanier and Kelli Wolsey) for causing concern to the returnees. "That encouraged them to work that much harder to retain their spots," he says.
There was also the disappointment of 1991, when a flat Utah was second to Alabama at the NCAAs. "We had the feeling we hadn't accomplished what we could have," Marsden says, making returnees "that much more determined."
And there was the special resolve of Marlowe and Schaerrer to go out on a high. "Both improved their gymnastics a great deal in their last year," Marsden says. Even if they hadn't, they'd have been among the best in the nation, but they took things to a new level.
Marlowe, Schaerrer and Kenoyer provided strong, experienced leadership, the freshmen threw in enthusiasm and new talent, and the others - King, Jenny Donaldson, Tracy Richard, Missy Wells - "were willing to work hard to improve themselves" despite little chance for recognition, Marsden says.
Things weren't perfect. There were emotions in the gym, and a few Marsden choices made some unhappy. "But it was a group that, when they got there and the decisions had to be made, they accepted that and did a good job," he says.
What kind of a 1993 will follow Team Rock, minus Marlowe and Schaerrer?
Arizona State coach John Spini, not always a fan of Marsden's, says Utah had the best recruiting year in the country with three national-team members. They are Sandy Woolsey of Desert Devils (Scottsdale, Ariz.), Jennifer Mercier of Parkettes (Allentown, Pa.) and Fuller Frenz of SCATS (Los Angeles).
"You never know about freshmen until they get here," says Marsden. "I don't think we could have done any better, but we've got to replace some big shoes."
Marsden was so pleased with the work of those who return he's already looking forward to next season, though he needs summer to recover. "I'm optimistic," he says. "I think we'll be there with a chance again next year."
*****
(Additional information)
Utah national championships
Year Affiliation Site Score Individual champions
1981 AIAW Utah 145.65 none
1982 NCAA Utah 148.60 Sue Stednitz, all-around, beam;
Elaine Alfano, vault.
1983 NCAA Utah 184.65 Megan McCunniff, all-around;
Alfano, vault.
1984 NCAA UCLA 186.05 Megan McCunniff Marsden,
all-around, vault.
1985 NCAA Utah 188.35 Elaine Alfano, vault;
Lisa Mitzel, floor.
1986 NCAA Florida 186.95 None.
1990 NCAA Oregon State 194.90 None.
1992 NCAA Minnesota 195.65 Missy Marlowe, all-around,
bars, beam-x, floor Kristen Kenoyer, vault-x.
(In 1991, Missy Marlowe won balance beam in the championships at Alabama. The NCAA still considers it a tie, although a scoring error discovered after the meet indicates Marlowe should have won the title outright.)
x - tie
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