Gymnastics: Utes fall but still record highs
By: Jon Gilbert
Issue date: 3/10/08 Section: Sports
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No. 2 ranked Utah (10-0) managed to defeat the No. 7 Beavers (9-3) by a score of 196.300 to 195.150 in the Huntsman Center despite two falls by Ashley Postell, the nation's top all-around performer, and plenty of other miscues.
Postell first fell on her bars routine. After completing a maneuver on the lower bar, Postell lost momentum and slipped off the bar right onto her feet.
"I knew something wasn't really right when I was doing the skill before I fell," Postell said. She said she broke in new grips this week and wasn't comfortable with them during her routine.
Postell later got on beam and was flowing through her routine before slipping after a pass midway through the performance.
"Ashley doesn't struggle like that typically, so if she does, you know it's not her night," Marsden said.
Postell's fall on the bars ended a streak of 49 straight routines without a fall. After her vault performance earlier that night, she was just 14 routines shy of Suzanne Metz's team record of 63 straight routines without a fall that extended from the 1994 to the 1995 season.
Marsden approached Postell after she fell on beam and asked her if she wanted to sit out the floor exercise. She agreed that it was the right thing to do.
The rest of the team fared better than its leader but wasn't spectacular. Wobbles and steps littered routines and dismounts throughout the meet for Utah. Along with Postell's two falls, Daria Bijak fell during her floor routine, but the Utes have yet to count a fall this season as a team.
Out of 216 routines this season, Utah gymnasts have fallen seven times.
Utah started strong by matching its season high of 49.550 on vault. But the shakiness began during bars and persisted through beam, lingering into the floor exercise.
"Tonight it looked like we were fighting through things," Marsden said.
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