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Show 2 GYMNASTICS April 15, 2011 THE DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE Season's setbacks put Utes in underdog role Kelsey Price STAFF WRITER Utah finds itself in an unusual predicament heading into the NCAA Championship today at 4 p.m. in Cleveland. With more than half of the team finishing their freshman year and missing their leading gymnast coming into the season, the Red Rocks—more so than previous years—are entering the title chase as underdogs. Six freshmen are performing nearly half the routines, which is almost unheard of in college gymnastics. Senior All-American Kyndal Robarts is sidelined with a knee injury that is forcing her to apply for a medical hardship. On top of it all, freshman Corrie Lothrop, who has a season high of 39.5o in the allaround, is still facing problems with a floating chip in her ankle. However, Lothrop remains optimistic about her performance and those of her teammates. "I think the team looks great," Lothrop said. "I'm just excited to see how we can pull together for the last two or three times...Now we're going to be competing against the best of the best, and to know that Utah is in there is pretty exciting. Even with this new team and all these freshmen, we can still pull it together and get to nationals for a 36th time." Although the Utes are one of just four programs to ever claim the national championship—along with Georgia, UCLA and Alabama—this year might mark the first in the NCAAs history that another team could steal the trophy. Utah has made it to the NCAA Championship every year since 1982 and advanced to the Super Six in each of the past II years, but has yet to claim a national title in 16 years. This year marks one of only three years the Red Rocks didn't claim the regional title. "There's been a number of years where we thought we were good enough to win and didn't quite get it done, sometimes through our own fault and sometimes through what we couldn't control," said cohead coach Greg Marsden. "I think that was tough. I think that really wore on people." As a result, the Red Rocks are taking this year's NCAA Championship one event at a time, rather than jumping to the goal of capturing an eleventh title. "With this group, we aren't focusing on outcome at all," said co-head coach Megan Marsden. See RED ROCKS Page 7 TANER PASAMEHMETOGLU/The Daily Utah Chronicle Corrie Lothrop is one of six freshmen who have finished nearly half the routines this season. The Utes will compete in the NCAA Championship Semifinals today at 4 p.m. Two gymnasts join 'strong freshman class' Kelsey Price STAFF WRITER Amid the excitement surrounding the 2011 NCAA National Championship this weekend, the Red Rocks will welcome two more recruits to its 2011 signing class. DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE Advertising 801-581-7041 News 801-581-NEWS Fax 801-581-FAXX Georgia Dabritz of Newburyport, Mass., and Tory Wilson of Albuquerque, N.M., signed National Letters of Intent earlier this week, joining Kailah Delaney from Yorba Linda, Calif., Kassandra Lopez from Tucson, Ariz., and Becky Tutka from Upper Black Eddy, Pa., who committed to Utah last No- OPINION EDITOR: Brandon Beifuss b.beifuss@chronicle.utah.edu SPORTS EDITOR: Bryan Chouinard b.chouinard@ chronicle.utah.edu ASST. SPORTS EDITOR: Jake Hibbard ARTS EDITOR: Mohammad Allam m.allam@chronicle.utah.edu EDITOR IN CHIEF: Sara Copeland s.copeland@chronicle.utah.edu MANAGING EDITOR: Blair Johnson b.johnson@chronicle.utah.edu PRODUCTION MANAGER: Tyler Pratt PHOTO EDITOR: Richard Payson Corrections and Clarifications The policy of The Daily Utah Chronicle is to correct any error made as soon as possible. If you find something you would like clarified or find unfair, please contact the editor at 801-581-8317. r.payson@chronicle.utah.edu ASST. PHOTO EDITOR: Taner Pasamehmetoglu ONLINE EDITOR: Richard Payson t.pratt@chronicle.utah.edu r.payson@chronicle.utah.edu ASST. PRODUCTION MANAGER: Megan COPY EDITORS: Ian Anderson, Alex McFarland Lewis, Abby Thurman NEWS EDITOR: Katie Pratt PROOFREADER: Aaron Lang k.pratt@chronicle.utah.edu GENERAL MANAGER: Jake Sorensen ASST. NEWS EDITOR:Josh Bennett vember on Signing Day. "Both of these gymnasts are very talented, powerful athletes who are capable of contributing on all four events," said co-head coach Greg Marsden. "The addition of Georgia and Tory to an already strong freshman class makes us very optimistic j.sorensen@chronicle.utah.edu The Daily Utah Chronicle is an independent student newspaper published daily Monday through Friday during Fall and Spring Semesters (excluding test weeks and holidays). Chronicle editors and staff are solely responsible for the newspaper's content. Funding comes from advertising revenues and a dedicated student fee administered by the Publications Council. To respond with questions, comments or complaints, call 8m-581104i or visit www.dailyutahchronicle.com. The Chronicle is distributed free of charge, limit one copy per reader. Additional copies of the paper may be made available upon request. No person, without expressed permission of The Chronicle, may take more than one copy of any Chronicle issue. about next year's team." Dabritz joins the Utes as a senior international elite gymnast who competed in the U.S. National Championship last year and in 2009. She also qualified for the international Nastia Liukin Cup in 2011, where she placed No. 10 in the all-around. As the 2009 and 2011 Massachusetts state all-around champion, Dabritz has also had huge success. On just the state level, she won the vault and beam titles in 2009 and almost swept the individual event title in 20II—winning vault, beam and floor titles and finishing second on bars. Wilson joins the Utes after winning the 2009 National Invitational Tournament all-around and finishing at No. 9 in the all-around at the 2010 Junior National Championships. This season, Wilson has won the allaround at both the IGI Chicago Style and the Metroplex Challenge and also claimed the New Mexico state all-around championship. She most recently qualified for the 2011 Nastia Liukin Cup where she finished at No. 18 in the all-around, eight spots behind Dabritz. k.nricechronicle.utah.edu |