Arizona Gymnastics Achieves Season Highs Against Utah

The Utah Utes visited McKale this weekend not only for a men’s basketball game but also to take on the Arizona Gymnastics team.

The Utah Utes brought their No. 3 ranking, but the GymCats were not deterred as they continued to show improvement.

Many Pac-12 gymnastics teams have been ranked throughout the season so far. Every meet means the athletes have to bring their best and not let the success occurring on the other side of the gym distract them. Especially when there is an Olympian a few feet away flying through the air for the Utah Utes.

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Arizona Gymnastics is under the direction of a new head coach after the sudden departure of Tabitha Yim for her alma mater Stanford. Arizona Athletic Director Dave Heeke is looking for a replacement, and in meanwhile longtime assistant John Court is acting as head coach. According to the Pac-12 Networks, when asked what one of the biggest changes has been for Coach Court as a head coach he answered: “A lot of people ask me for basketball tickets.”

The task to beat Utah was daunting, but the Wildcats had a nice start to the meet. In fact, they showed improvement except for the beam rotation. Arizona took to the vault first. All the athletes did well, combining for their season high of 49.175. This was the first time all year Arizona has earned at least 49 on vault. The highlight was freshman Payton Bellows who nailed her vault and earned a 9.95.

After the vault, the GymCats moved to the uneven bars where they were currently ranked No. 13 in the country. Maddi Leydin, a sophomore from Melbourne, Australia, showed off a unique release skill and scored a 9.850.

As in on the vault, the Arizona Wildcats scored a season-high on the bars after anchor Christina Berg had a great landing and scored 9.90. Their new uneven bars team season high is now 49.2.

Even though the Wildcats were trailing heading to the balance beam, they were riding high on their personal and individual accomplishments. But the balance beam is tricky both physically and mentally, and it got the best of the GymCats. Unfortunately, there were two low scores, so a 9.35 had to be included in the total. Senior Madison Cyndric ended the beam rotation with a 9.875, though, and that gave Arizona some momentum heading to the floor exercises.

Arizona needed a little luck to negate their total beam score 48.525. While the Wildcats were struggling on the beam, the Utah Utes, ranked No. 1 in the country on the floor exercise, were expanding their overall lead. The problem is Utah just didn’t miss. There were no falls off the beam and very few balance checks. They are solid and confident in all the apparatus.

During the Wildcats’ final rotation, the gymnasts got back in the swing of things. Going into the meet, they were ranked No. 27 in the country on the floor, and they didn’t disappoint.

Senior Kennady Schneider is the ace of the floor exercises. She not only can tumble, but she also excels in dance, plays to the crowd, and earned a 9.925 for a total floor exercise score of 49.425.

Coach John Court has a bunch of energy himself and really seems to be enjoying his new role.

Next: Arizona Basketball Squeezes Out a Win Over Utah

Arizona Gymnastics fans are excited about the progress these talented gymnasts are making each week. It’s off to Cal next weekend for a meet on Sunday, February 4th. Bear Down, Arizona GymCats, and congratulations on your excellent accomplishments Friday night.