Utah Loses Kari Lee for the Season

Utah announced yesterday that All-American gymnast Kari Lee is done for the season after tearing her left Achilles tendon in practice. Lee, a three-time All-American (one regular season and two post season) and NCAA event finalist last year as a freshman, will have surgery on Friday. Last season, Lee was a first-team All-American on both vault and floor (both events she competed in the event finals of at nationals, placing fifth on vault and and 14th on floor). She was also a second-team All-American in beam and posted Utah's highest beam score (9.975) in 2015. In Utah's first three meets, Lee was Utah's only all-arounder. She had two victories on the season: in the all-around and the balance beam.

This is a big loss for Utah. They will have to replace four routines since Lee competed in every event. This year's squad is deep, but they are also young, so I would expect more of a by-committee approach to replacing Lee than one individual stepping into her role. Utah's first meet without Lee is at home against No. 20 Arizona on Monday at 6 p.m. MT.