No. 5 Utah Red Rocks Rout Arizona State 197.600-194.850

The No. 5 Utah Red Rocks (9-1, 4-1 Pac-12) routed Arizona State (2-8, 0-5 Pac-12) 197.600-194.850 on Saturday night in Tempe, Ariz. Utah’s 197.600 is a season-high road meet score for the Red Rocks. It was a homecoming for two Arizona natives: sophomore Kari Lee (Peoria, Ariz.) and freshman MyKayla Skinner (Gilbert, Ariz.).

"That was a great road meet and I'm really proud that we kept our intensity up after last week," said head coach Tom Farden. "We incentivized practice on Tuesday to stay in a competitive mindset. We played a game where if we hit enough sets as a team, the team would get a Wednesday morning off (from conditioning). They hit all their sets."

The Red Rocks did not mess around on their trip to the desert. They started the meet with a season-high 39.625 on bars. Five Utah gymnasts achieved career highs on bars. Lee (9.975) and junior Tiffani Lewis (9.950) were each given a 10.0 by one of the two judges. The other three Utah gymnasts to achieve career highs were Skinner (9.950), sophomore MaKenna Merrell (9.875), and freshman Missy Reinstadtler (9.875). ASU started with a 48.725 on vault, and the rout was on early.

Utah would then move to vault, where they posted a 49.125. Skinner remained undefeated on the event, winning with a 9.900. Sophomore Shannon McNatt competed to count for the first time in her Utah career, posting a 9.750 on vault. At the halfway mark of the meet, Utah led 98.800-97.400.

Skinner led the way for Utah on floor as well with a 9.950. This helped lead Utah to a 49.425 on floor. They finished the meet on beam with a 49.375, which Skinner also won with a career-high 9.950 on beam. This gave her a 39.750 in the all-around, her second best score.

"Bars was really sharp," said Farden. "Several of our kids have really stepped it up on that event in recent weeks. We had a few steps on vault landings and were a little tight in some places on floor—although we had three outstanding routines—and then beam was fantastic."

The Red Rocks have their final home meet of the season on Friday, March 3 at 7 p.m. MST against Stanford.