Utah gymnastics: Utes enjoy down time before ramping up again for Regionals

Members of Utah's gymnastics team will get back to work in the coming days to prepare for the NCAA regionals on April 1 after a few days of rest and light work to let their bodies recover.

The fourth-ranked Utes are the top seed in the Fayetteville, Ark., regional, where they will compete against No. 9 Denver, No. 16 Cal, No. 21 Auburn, No. 27 Arkansas and No. 28 Central Michigan.

The Utes, who won the Pac-12 title with a season-high 197.925, continue to put their focus on clean landings, the one area in which they feel they can improve, Utah co-coach Megan Marsden said. The Utes are using practice competitions and other means to focus on the landings.

"They enjoy competition among themselves, and it helps to have a reason and purpose at this point in the year to keep it fresh," Marsden said.

The good news is the Utes feel they can focus on the details because their training has been solid throughout the season. If anything, the coaches are toeing the line between pushing the team hard enough but making sure it gets rest, too.

"This team gets up emotionally for competition and in a situation they were in, where they were as high as they were and performed the way they did, it would be a mistake to have expectations they could come back quickly and pound out routines clear into next week," Marsden said. "We will come back with some hard workouts, but this team has proven it does best with a light workout before the meet so they have fresh legs. We've noticed that is when we have some of our best performances."

Injury report

Vault specialist Shannon McNatt, who hyperextended her knee at the Pac-12 Championships, is benefiting from rest and is recovering from the injury, Marsden said.

McNatt, who scored 9.325 when she landed stiffly, is considered a valuable member of the team even though she is only in the vault lineup. She is one of the few Utes who can perform a 10.0 vault and is the No. 1 backup on several events.

The Utes want to be careful with her recovery and may not use her at regionals with the hopes she could be available for nationals in case she is needed not only in the vault lineup but elsewhere.

Floor lineup focus

The Utes haven't decided whether to use MaKenna Merrell or Kari Lee in the floor lineup for regionals, although Lee seems to have a slight edge.

Lee has competed the past two meets, scoring 9.875 at Georgia and 9.675 at the Pac-12 meet, where she stepped out of bounds. Marsden attributed that mistake to adrenalin.

"She didn't handle it perfectly," Marsden said. "The upside is when she nails it, it's a great routine and we have plenty of preparation time to get her ready."

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