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Show DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE 8 Monday, January 13, 2014 MCDONALD Continued from page 6 in conference play, Utah has been on the unfortunate receiving end of a defensive play that was made by the opponent simply because that player was uber-athletic. Imagine if the Utes had this sort of game-changing anchor on defense. Utah started its Pac-12 journey behind the rest of the conference as far as quality of player is concerned. Both basketball squads are starting to recruit players who at least have the skill to compete on this level, but the next step is attracting the best of the best in terms of athleticism. r.mcdonald@chronicle.utah.edu GYMNASTICS Continued from page 6 the whole season. "We were a little down," said junior Tory Wilson, who replaced Lopez in the bars lineup. "Unfortunately, that is something that this team is used to handling, so we just got together and knew that we could do it and it worked out well. It affected us a little bit initially, but I think, in the long run, we are stronger mentally from last year and we were able to handle it." Since Lopez was placed in three events for Utah, coaches had to use three gymnasts who were not expecting to compete in those respective events: Becky Tutka on the vault, Wilson on the bars and Baely Rowe on the beam. Tutka had a stick landing on the vault on her way to a 9.875, Wilson had a career-best 9.95o on the bars and freshman Rowe, in her first performance ever for Utah, scored a 9.750 on the beam. "It's a talented team and we have that depth," Marsden said. "One person's tragedy is another person's opportunity. I was proud that those people took advantage of their opportunities and showing what they are capable of doing for us." The Utes will now head out on the road to face Cal on Friday. "I was just really excited that our first meet of the season was at home," Wilson said. "I think now that we've had our first meet and got the jitters out, we are ready to go and attack everything." g.adams@chronicle.utah.edu w• w • — • • • — • • • — wittertweeter speak twitter heard on ty tweet maltweeted twegtwa Ker RT twittertweet °AM tweet tweet a little haraerspeak twitter need more tweets? +1Al heard on the twt gtv ittertweet need more tweets? speak twitter twidiot maltweeted maltwee d he twitter twitter twitter onh tweeMg, re tweets. need t rm t WI !tweeted er tweet a !the h0tw itter et need more tweets?sev‘ twittertt r tw t ee tte it ertwe c ter heard onthe th tweet - e tweets? r sp ak twitter twi e It a ne mo eee eee maltweeted twee I e rn a n I a C:P:1v/111: ERIN BURNS/The Daily Utah Chronicle Utah seniors prove experience is key BYU invitational gives underclassmen a chance to learn STAFF WRITER Utah's senior runners proved to the underclassmen over the weekend that experience is a valuable trait to have in track. At the BYU Invitational, the team's season opener, senior Nikkie Rudder took first place in the shot put and weight throw to highlight the field events. After not competing for two years, Rudder broke the school record in the shot put with her first throw of 5o feet, 2 3/4 inches. On the track, seniors Stephanie Jolley and Rosalie Waller each placed in their respective events. Jolley finished second in the Soo-meter with a time of 40.01 while Waller ran to a first place finish in the 500-meter with a time of 1:14.29 — the second-fastest time in the nation to date. The Utes also had a strong performance from the 4x400-meter relay team that finished in second place in 3:55.94. Utah put two teams in the event to give everyone a chance to run, but did not assemble their four best runners into one relay. "Those 4x400s, we didn't put our best team out there, we split them evenly. If we would have put our best four runners on one team we would have dominated that race," said head coach Kyle Kepler. The team had a strong start in the re- need more tweets? twittertattpr tw tweet le Senior Stephanie Jolley in a race last weekend at BYU. Dominic Garcia tweet a little harderspeak twitter . lay and appeared to have the race under control going into the final lap, but as the runners approached the final stretch, the Utes' anchor was passed by BYU's final leg and had to settle for second place. Despite the loss, Jolley shared Kepler's excitement when it comes to those 4x400-meter relay teams. "We have never really had this many fast 400 girls," Jolley said. "We could have two really good 4x400 teams this year." Utah wanted to use this first meet of the season as an experimental meet to test their many freshmen and other underclassmen. Freshman Christine Van Brocklin was one of those experiments as she ran for the first time in the 6o-meter hurdles. She was able to qualify for the finals, receiving a fourth place finish in the final. Fellow freshman teammate Alissa Atisme was also able to grab a fourth place finish in the 6o-meter final. "This first month is a time to figure out what our strengths are and what our weaknesses are," Kepler said. Utah lost II seniors at graduation last season, so leadership has fallen on a few shoulders for this year's squad. Jolley and Waller are the only two seniors on the team, but other upperclassmen are helping those two guide freshmen the through their first season. "We have got a good mix right now," Kepler said. "Those upperclassmen are providing great leadership and really helping those underclassmen make the adaption." While some things went well over the weekend, Kepler realized it was the first meet of the season and had tempered expectations as a result. "It was nice to come down here and get our feet wet," he said. "I think things went as well as we could have hoped." The Utes will next compete in the Snake River Open at Idaho State this weekend. This first month is a time to figure out what our strengths are and what our weaknesses are. Head coach Kyle Kepler d.garcia@chronicle.utah.edu ttertweet ni twidiot weet tweet speak twitter eard on maltweete All twittert twee. 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