Still not quite there, but oh, so close was the takeaway from both teams Friday night as No. 13 Utah welcomed Southern Utah to the Huntsman Center.
Both squads were coming off season high scores from a week ago, and both seemed to have momentum carrying them into the final part of the regular season.
After it was all said and done, both teams walked away with a lot of positives and a few wants in the 197.425-195.825 final that not surprisingly tipped in Utah’s favor.
For the Red Rocks, the start to its meet was exactly what they have been searching for. They were great on vault with a 49.55 that included a 9.95 from Ashley Glynn to set up Avery Neff to close out the lineup.
Neff was the perfect closer with a perfect score that was her second 10.0 on the event this season.
“Last week I messed up my run on vault and I was like, oh my gosh, now this is a revenge vault I need to do good,” said Neff.
“And then it was like, let it rip, and when I landed it, I was like, ‘Well that was pretty good.’”
The Red Rocks were rocking from there, punching out a 49.625 on their next event, bars. No score below a 9.875 counted on bars, and again it was the final two who scored big.
Ana Padurariu and Neff each recorded 9.95s to give Neff her second event title, but this one she had to share with her teammate.
Clara Raposo added a career-best 9.925 in the effort.
The challenge was Utah had so much energy behind the Huntsman crowd and the fast start that it never seemed to fully settle when it rotated to beam, as stalwarts Makenna Smith and Camie Winger fell off the apparatus while Neff and Padurariu had wobbles for lower scores, leaving Utah with a 48.675.
The Red Rocks did have a clutch performer on beam in freshman Abby Ryssman, who earned a 9.95 following Smith’s fall.
While Ryssman was definitely a bright spot, Utah knew it missed an opportunity with its normally solid event to get an even bigger final score.
“Definitely disappointed about beam tonight. As the beam coach, I’ll take that one,” said Utah coach Carly Dockendorf.
“We came out swinging on that first event and carried that momentum to bars, and I think we just got a little ahead of ourselves,” Dockendorf later explained.
“We saw the score and then the excitement set in. Instead of just trusting our gymnastics, we started to press a little bit too hard and, you know, tried to get big scores instead of just doing the routines we know how to do.”
What Utah did do though was respond in a big way on its final event, as it tallied a season-high floor score of 49.575. Smith hit an event high 9.95, while Neff and Ella Zirbes added 9.925s.
The final outcome for Utah was that it had three really, really good events, and just needs to iron out a few wrinkles to have four really, really good events.
“I think we are at a really good point. Definitely still room for improvement, which is good. We don’t want to be at our peak yet, but I think we’ve been building, not even just our gymnastics but how we’re serving each other and taking care of each other,” Zirbes said.
“It’s definitely gotten better, but obviously there’s still some more work.”
Overall, it was Utah’s second-best score of a year that has included a lot of pendulum swinging.
Southern Utah
The Flippin’ Birds had a lot of bright spots on the night as well, but they didn’t get the start they wanted on bars with a 48.375 that included falls by Mia Hampton and Ariel Collum.
Southern Utah was at its best on floor, like always, with Berlin Hall tying with Zirbes and Neff for second with a 9.925.
SUU outpaced Utah on beam with a 49.10, highlighted by Emma Nipper and Elliot Bringhurst’s 9.9s, which finished second only to Ryssman.
The Flippin’ Birds also threw three 10.0 start valued vaults for the first time this season to finish with a 49.025 on that event.
“We are so close,” said SUU coach Scotty Bauman. “We keep finding ways to shoot ourselves in the foot with small things, but when we finally get things together, we are going to be so good.
“I’m proud of this team for pushing.”
Meet notes
Dockendorf said that assistant Jimmy Pratt, who oversees bars, has been away from the team recently to deal with some personal matters.
That has forced the team to treat the event differently, but Dockendorf has been proud of how the team has come together to handle the adversity with a lot of success.
Event winners
All-Around — Avery Neff (Utah); 39.70.
Vault — Avery Neff (Utah); 10.0.
Bars — Ana Padurariu & Avery Neff (Utah); 9.95.
Beam — Abbi Ryssman (Utah); 9.95.
Floor — Makenna Smith (Utah); 9.95.
Next up
SUU is back home to host UC Davis next Friday. The Red Rocks have a longer break as they travel to No. 16 Denver on March 1.
The two Big 12 teams are undefeated in conference meets and sit atop the conference standings.