The Ute Meet

One thing that all gymnasts enjoy is watching college gymnastics meets. Last weekend, the University of Utah gymnastics team had a meet against the University of Florida, and my gym was invited to flash the scores. However, you cannot do scores when you fourteen or older, so I was not able to do scores with my teammates.

The Utah Gymnastics Team!
Photo Courtesy of: USA Gymnastics

The Gator gymnastics team!
Photo Courtesy Of: Gatorzone

Even so, I went to go watch the meet with my friend Emma. I had a small conundrum, though. I couldn’t figure out what colors to wear and what team to cheer for! I am a huge fan of the Gators, and my dream is to be a gymnast for them when I go to college. Also, I love the Utes, and I support them with all my heart. I made a compromise and cheered for both, and had a creative color scheme to fit both teams!

Emma and I at the meet!

This meet was the last meet of the regular season for both teams, and senior night for the Utes. Since they don’t have any seniors on their team, they brought in former Ute gymnasts. One of them, Annie DiLuzio, is my sport psych teacher!

Both the Utes and the Gators are very good. Going into the meet, the Utes were ranked 7th and the Gators were ranked 2nd. The Gators are helped out a lot by a freshman, Bridget Sloan, who was on the 2008 US Women’s Gymnastics Olympic Team! It was so cool to get to watch her perform live!

This is the 2008 Olympic team. Bridget Sloan is the one on the far left.
Photo Courtesy Of: USA Gymnastics

Another highlight of the night was watching Georgia Dabritz on bars. One note: she does not use grips. Grips help gymnasts to hold on to the bar, and they eliminates some of the friction on your hands. Most gymnasts find that bars is easier to do with grips, but not Georgia Dabritz. She got a 10.0, a PERFECT SCORE, on bars, without using grips! It was amazing to see someone get a 10, and I was so happy for my teammate who got to flash her score!

Georgia Dabritz flashing the U after scoring a 10 on bars!
Photo Courtesy of: University of Utah Athletics

There were other amazing performances on vault and floor by the Utes, and the Gators were amazing, too, especially on beam. At the end of the meet, there was so much apprehension on who was going to win because it was a very close meet all the way. The Utes ended up winning, and I was really happy! The final score was 198.125-197.875. 

After the meet, my teammates took some pictures! Here is one:

My teammate Monkey flashing a score, and my crazy teammates after the meet!
Photo Courtesy Of: Morgan Cutt

I am always inspired by college gymnastics meets, and I hope to be inspiring some other young gymnast someday!