WEST VALLEY CITY — Immediately following the 2019 Pac-12 Gymnastics Championships, held last spring in the Maverik Center, a trio of Utah gymnasts — MyKayla Skinner, MaKenna Merrell-Giles and Macey Roberts — spoke with reporters in the southwest tunnel just off the competition floor.
There was plenty to talk about, even though Utah had just fallen short of winning the conference title. Six Ute gymnasts set or matched career-highs in the meet and the Red Rocks turned in what would be their best performance of the season with a team score of 198.025.
Amid talk of perfect 10’s, career nights and hope for the future, the discussion turned to the venue itself. And did it impress. All three gymnasts were in agreement: The Maverik Center was a stage unto itself, arguably louder than their beloved Huntsman Center and definitely more electric.
Ten months later, those gymnasts are gone — Roberts remains part of the team as a student coach — but the Red Rocks who returned and experienced the Maverik Center remember it fondly.
“It was really loud and a really fun environment to compete in,” junior Sydney Soloski said. “It felt louder.”
“I was a freshman so everything in my eyes was big and loud, but there was a great energy in there,” added sophomore Hunter Dula.
Kim Tessen, Adrienne Randall, Alexia Burch and Missy Reinstadtler all agree that to a gymnast, there was something special about competing in the Maverik Center.
“It is a different vibe,” said Reinstadtler. “It is the same noise level, the same energy as the Huntsman, but it feels like it is on a bigger scale.”
A bigger scale is exactly the point of this weekend’s Rio Tinto-sponsored Best of Utah quad meet between No. 4 Utah, No. 7 BYU, Utah State and SUU.
Spearheaded by Utah head coach Tom Farden — “I’ll admit that I was one of the people who really thought of this idea,” he said — the meet was created to give the state’s four women’s gymnastics programs a chance to compete together on the sport’s biggest stage.
“I thought it was going to be unique,” Farden said. “I really embraced the fact that our small state of Utah, with only 3 million people, has four very strong women’s gymnastics programs. That speaks to the popularity of gymnastics in our state, and I thought there is no better way to showcase that than in one venue, on podium, at the Maverik Center.”
The idea has been in the works for some time, but the experience of the Pac-12 Gymnastics Championships in the Maverik Center provided the final push.
“I think the Pac-12 Championships, having that at the Maverik Center and the Maverik Center opening up their doors to hosting gymnastics, certainly opened my eyes to the fact that maybe we could have an invitational out there as well,” said Farden. “When I made my initial contact with the three other head coaches in the state, they were 100% in. Resounding support from them and we ended up agreeing on a five-year contract.”
“This is something that we’ve been talking about for quite a while now and this will be one of the premier meets in the nation,” SUU head coach Scotty Bauman said. “It will be a fantastic event and it will bring out the best in all four programs.”
Arguably the most important aspect of the meet is that it will be competed on podium. On podium meets are what they sound like. The apparatuses themselves — the balance beam, vault, floor and uneven bars — are set on top of a podium or stage, rather than the floor of the arena itself. The result is events that are more forgiving on athletes bodies, but also a bit trickier to conquer.
“It’s a treat for gymnastics fans,” BYU head coach Guard Young said. “Being up on a podium actually heightens the event. I’m a gymnastics fan first, so I’m just going to sit back and enjoy it and see how these girls handle being on a podium.”
For the Red Rocks, a podium meet early in the year is especially important, given the Pac-12 championships and the national championship take place on podium.
“Competing on podium before you have to is huge,” Burch said. “Just to get the feeling. It is so bouncy and different on podium.”
Throw in the chance to compete against former club teammates, not to mention heated rivals — ”The BYU-Utah rivalry, no matter what sport it is, is a pretty big deal,” said Tessen — and Saturday’s meet has the chance to be one to remember.
“It is going to be exciting,” Dula said. “A lot of my old teammates are on these other teams and with all four teams being from Utah it will be a dogfight.”
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Best of Utah
No. 4 Utah vs. No. 7 BYU, SUU and Utah State
Maverik Center, West Valley City
Saturday, 7 p.m. MST
TV: None
Radio: ESPN 700 AM
Live scores: Sidearm Stats