After a giant meet against Georgia a week ago, the Red Rocks are heading to Tucson to defend their Pac-12 title. The Utes are the No. 2 seed in the meet, behind UCLA, a team that Utah beat earlier this season down in LA in conference, while UCLA also has a win over Utah, but in a non-conference meet. After going over 198 against Georgia, the Red Rocks are flying high and have a ton of confidence going into this meet, and hopefully the Red Rocks can turn a Pac-12 championship into something more going into regionals, nationals, and the Super Six. The big score was needed by the Red Rocks after two straight defeats, both by small margins, including one loss to Cal a couple weeks ago by .050 of a point.
Utah will probably have to go pretty big, which they always do, to keep the Pac-12 crown, because UCLA is going to be gunning for them. Thankfully, the likes of MyKayla Skinner gives the Red Rocks a major ace in their sleeve, and others like MaKenna Merrell-Giles aren’t far behind her.
Here are some more notes from UtahUtes.com on the meet that kicks off tomorrow:
This Week in Utah Gymnastics
With a 197.540 Regional Qualifying Score (RQS), Utah has earned the No. 2 seed into the 2018 Pac-12 Gymnastics Championship on Saturday, Mar. 24 in the McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz. The Utes will compete in the evening session at 6 p.m. PDT (7 p.m. MDT) along with No. 1 seed UCLA (197.840 RQS), No. 3 seed Washington (196.915) and No. 4 seed California (196.775). The 5-8 seeds competing in the early session at 1 p.m. PDT/2 p.m. MDT are Oregon State (196.765), Arizona State (196.510), Stanford (195.920) and Arizona (195.630). Both sessions will be televised live nationally on Pac-12 Networks. The evening session will also be aired on ESPN 700 radio.
Pac-12 Championship Notes
Utah has won three of the last four Pac-12 Championships (2014, 2015, 2017). Other teams to win a title are UCLA (2012, 2016) and Oregon State (2013) … Utah has had a Pac-12 all-around champion in four of the five Pac-12 Championships to date, including MyKayla Skinner in 2017. For a complete list of Utah’s Pac-12 finishes and Pac-12 individual champions, see the sidebar on page 3 of this release … Utah has the No. 2 seed into the tournament for the third time. The Utes won the 2017 Pac-12 Championship as the No. 2 seed, while finishing second in 2012 … Utah is only team to finish in the top three at all six Pac-12 Gymnastics Championships, including three first-place and two second-place finishes ... Teams were seeded into the Pac-12 Championship by Regional Qualifying Score. Five Pac-12 teams are ranked in the top 11 nationally: No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 Utah, No. 8 Washington, No. 10 California and No. 11 Oregon State … Team and individual standings at the Pac-12 Championship are determined by score, regardless of session.