Utah are the 2017 Pac-12 Gymnastics Champions!

The No. 5 Utah Red Rocks dominated in Stanford, Calif. in the Pac-12 Championship to claim the 2017 Pac-12 title with a 197.925. Freshman phenom MyKayla Skinner claimed the Pac-12 all-around, floor, and vault titles (splitting with teammate Tiffani Lewis and Oregon State’s Dani Dessaints). This marks Utah’s third Pac-12 Championship since joining the conference. Oregon State came in second with 197.400. UCLA, the top seed at the Pac-12 Championship, struggled for much of the meet. They suffered a fall in all four events and finished in a tie for third with Washington, with both teams scoring a 197.100.

Utah started the meet with a 49.425 on bars and was tied for first after the first rotation, a lead they would never relinquish. Kari Lee and Missy Reinstadtler led Utah on bars with a 9.900 each. Washington posted a 49.425 on beam to tie a season high to start the meet tied with Utah. Oregon State started with a 49.350 on floor. UCLA would struggle to only a 49.150 to start the meet on vault.

On the second rotation, Utah posted their lowest score of any event, a 49.400 on vault. Things got off to a rough start that doomed Utah at the 2016 Pac-12 Championship with Maddy Stover struggling, only scoring a 9.625. The rest of the team would hit, and Utah would cap the event with three straight 9.900s from Skinner, Lee, and Baely Rowe. Washington would score a 49.275 on floor. Oregon State scored a 49.325 on vault. UCLA posted only a 48.950 on bars, their best event (where they rank No. 2 in the nation).

Utah really started to pull away from the competition on floor. Outside of Lee stepping out of bounds, every other Utah gymnast scored at least a 9.900. Skinner, in her first Pac-12 Championship meet, posted her second perfect 10.0 on floor this season to cap Utah’s huge 49.625 floor set. Washington kept their momentum going on vault scoring a 49.300. Oregon State would post a score of 49.200 on bars, led by Pac-12 bars champion Erika Aufiero’s 9.950. UCLA would rally on beam, posting their best score of the night on any event with a 49.575, led by Pac-12 beam champion Kyla Ross’s perfect 10.0.

Utah would close out the meet with a strong vault set, scoring a 49.475, led by Skinner and Lewis, who both posted 9.950s. Rowe also posted a 9.900. Washington would struggle on bars, scoring only 49.100, which would open the door for Oregon State to pass them with their 49.525 beam set. UCLA would also rally to tie UW for third with a 49.425 floor set.

For the meet, Skinner posted a 39.725 in the all-around. Rowe would finish second in the all-around with a 39.575. Utah posted a season-high 197.925. Oregon State’s 197.400 was also a season-high for the Beavers. Up next for Utah is NCAA Regionals.