Utah had a rough season last year. And still finished second.
This season they finished 3rd behind Georgia and Alabama.
Isn’t that a step backward?
They left it all on the floor — for an entire year — and the Ute gymnasts came away from finishing third at the 2009 NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships last weekend with great disappointment, but with no regrets.
“Nope, not a thing,” said coach Greg Marsden.
“We just have to accept that there were two better teams out there on the floor that night and be proud of what we accomplished and get ready for next year,” he said.
“There were a lot of long faces, and there was a lot of disappointment in the locker room and the bus ride back to the hotel. But, with time, that’s going to pass.”
And a team that few expected a year ago to have much promise — but dreamed of gold anyway — will eventually be satisfied with bronze because it did all it could all year to over-achieve. …
“We didn’t want to get to the end of the season and say, ‘Well, if we’d have worked a little harder, the outcome would have been different,’ ” Marsden said.
His gymnasts took that even further than he’d hoped. “It was one of the most enjoyable seasons that I can remember as a coach,” Marsden said. “This was a blast.” …
Senior Kristina Baskett ranked No. 1 or 2 much of the season in all-around and three events, finished second in the NCAA all-around last week in Nebraska and took third in the event in which she wasn’t highly ranked, beam. She was also third in vault and bars.
She graduates in May and will work for the summer at Sea World in San Diego while hoping to pursue her dreams in photography or broadcast journalism.
Deseret New – Utah Utes gymnastics: No regrets for these Utes
Shout out to Utah’s new record:
Jamie Deetscreek broke Suzanne Metz’s 14-year-old record of 63 straight routines without a fall with her 64th clean routine before dropping off beam, then started a new streak of six. …
The consistency of College athletes is what impresses me most as compared with FIG and age group gymnasts.
Utah’s Jamie Deetscreek performs on the beam during a practice session Wednesday, April 15, 2009, ahead of the NCAA women’s gymnastics championships in Lincoln, Neb. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik) – ESPN
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I used to think the “bullying” problem in schools was often overblown by the media. 
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