University of Utah Student Newspapers | 2013-03-05 | Page 6

6 SPORTS Tuesday March 5, 2013 TODAY'S SKI REPORT 15° / 9 a.m. 27° / 3 p.m. Alta www.dailyutahchronicle.corn Conditions and weather from utahskiweathercom Icy spots early, bumps, wet snow later Brighton Winslow's contract will not be renewed 15° / 9 a.m. 27° / 3 p.m. Canyons 20° / 9 a.m. 40° / 3 p.m. Deer Valley 20° / 9 a.m. 40° / 3 p.m. Snowbird 15° / 9 a.m. 37° / 3 p.m. Utes hope to keep winning streak Connor Wallace STAFF WRITER SPORTS EDITOR Utah will not renew head swimming and diving coach Greg Winslow's contract, the Athletics Department announced Monday. Winslow GREG WINSLOW was suspended Feb. 28 following allegations that he sexually abused a former swimmer when she was 15 years old. No charges have been filed against Winslow. "We decided it is in the best interest of our current student-athletes, future recruits and the general well-being of our swimming and diving program to announce today that we will not be renewing Greg Winslow's contract after this season," said athletic director Chris Hill in a statement. "Our swimming and diving program is an important part of our athletic department, and we are invested in its future. We will begin a search for a new coach immediately." Richard Marschner was named the interim director of the program and will continue to serve as diving coach. Winslow will remain on paid administrative leave until further notice. The decision not to renew Winslow's contract follows the release of an Arizona State police report detailing the allegations. According to the report, which was WINSLOW page 7 UPCOMING SPORTS EVENTS Utah @ Lexus Classic See SOFTBALL page 8 Utes succeed despite Lothrop's absence Women's Tennis Utah vs. Wyoming 2 p.m. Eccles Tennis Center Matt Ellis Softball STAFF WRITER Utah @ Utah Valley 3 p.m. Orem WEDNESDAY: Ski Utah @ Giant Slalom TBA Middlebury, Vt. AP TOP 25 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Baylor Notre Dame Connecticut Stanford Cal Duke Kentucky Penn St. Tennessee Maryland Dayton Georgia Louisville UCLA North Carolina Delaware South Carolina Colorado Texas A&M Green Bay Nebraska LSU Florida St. Syracuse Toledo After a nine-day break, the Utes will take on Utah Valley this afternoon in Orem. Utah is corning off a seven-game winning streak two weekends ago, and the team hopes to continue its momentum against the Wolverines. Losing momentum is a legitimate worry since the Utes have had so much time off, but catcher Shay Shaum and head coach Amy Hogue said the break couldn't have come at a better time. "I think it's good for all of our bodies to recover," Shaum said. "It does suck losing the momentum a little bit, but I still think that we can carry that on." Not only did Utah need to recover from the regular wear and tear of the season after three consecutive weekends on the road, but much of the team had gotten sick with the flu. "When you get back from three weekends on the road, a weekend off is always a good thing," Hogue said. The Wolverines should also be feeling queasy with the prospect of facing a hot team like the Utes. Utah has improved in both hitting and pitching since opening the season with struggles in both of those departments. In their last five games, the Utes have outscored opponents 24-ro. UVU (5-5) will rely on its pitching staff to beat Utah. The Wolverines have only scored more than five runs once this season, an win against Nevada. However, when limiting their opponents to five or less runs, they are 5-1. UVU's staff is led by Tiffany Mills, who has four victories and is averaging five strikeouts per start. "If you let a team like Utah Valley stay in the game with you for too long, they'll beat you," Hogue GYMNASTICS All Day Fresno, Calif 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MADELINE SMITH/The Daily Utah Chronicle File Photo Senior Shay Shaum during a game in April 2012. Shaum and the Utes return to action after a nine-day break. The Utes travel to Orem this afternoon to face UVU. TODAY: Golf 16° / 9 a.m. 38° / 3 p.m. SOFTBALL Jake Bullinger See Solitude 28-1 27-1 27-2 28-2 27-2 27-2 25-4 24-4 23-6 23-6 26-1 24-5 23-6 23-6 26-5 26-3 23-6 24-5 21-9 24-2 22-7 19-10 21-8 22-6 26-2 Corrie Lothrop is the defending Pac-12 champion in the all-around and a five-time AllAmerican. She's a captain and one of the most experienced gymnasts on a team full of underclassmen. She tore her Achilles tendon Feb.1 and hasn't cornpeted since, yet the team has put up higher scores in recent weeks than it did while Lothrop was in the lineup. In the four meets since Lothrop's injury, the Utes have scored north of 197 three times. The first of the season was against Cal — the week after Lothrop went down — and Utah earned its highest road score of the year last weekend at BYU, a 197.125. "I personally have been really surprised that, after a big injury like that, our team was able to come back and still get huge scores," said Georgia Dabritz. "[Lothrop] was capable of 9.9s on everything, so to take that out of your lineup and still be able to have girls that can put up those scores is a huge accomplishment." At the time of her injury, Lothrop was one of only four Utah gymnasts without a fall. She had hit 12 of 12 routines and had scored a 9.8 or higher on every routine except one. So while some were ready to write the eulogy for Utah's 2013 season, Utah coaches were waiting for someone to surprise them. So far, more than one gymnast has amazed teammates and coaches alike. "That's why we have 13 on our team," said co-head coach Megan Marsden. "You can only cornpete six on each event, so you certainly worry about having a lot of injuries. But if we've been doing what we're supposed to as coaches, if they've been doing what they're supposed to as ath- letes, you should be able to do a relatively good job of filling in." Most on the team agree that Tory Wilson has been the most surprising. She stepped into an all-around role after learning a new bars routine only weeks before Lothrop got hurt and has won two all-around titles in her first four attempts. She also won her first beam title last weekend as part of a three-win night. Dabritz has also been a pillar of Utah's success. She stepped into her all-around role at the beginning of the year and won the title on her second try. She has been the rock of an inconsistent bars rotation and is tied with Wilson for the team-lead with 12 total wins. The list doesn't end there. Nansy Damianova has become a three-event specialist and set a career-high 9.925 on vault against BYU. Lia Del Priore has set career-highs on vault and floor — the latter of which was a perfect Do. Freshman Breanna Hughes has put up steady 9.8s or higher on Utah's two most troublesome events — bars and beam. Becky Tutka stepped into the beam rotation for the first time in her career while also taking the anchor spot on floor, where she is ranked sixth in the nation. So while no one is grateful for Lothrop's absence, some of the gymnasts have taken full advantage of their enhanced roles on the team. Marsden would prefer to have her team at full strength, but she has been pleasantly surprised by what has happened in the wake of Lothrop's injury. "Some neat things can come from a bad situation," Marsden said. "They knew they had big shoes to fill, and I think we had some people that were ready for the opportunity." [e-mail] Twitter: @mattellis_utah KARINA PUIKKONEN/The Daily Utah Chronicle Tory Wilson waves to the crowd after the Utes' victory in Provo last weekend. Wilson has stepped into an all-around role after teammate Corrie Lothrop's injury. Wilson has won two all-around titles in her first four attempts.