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Show DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE 8 Wednesday, March 19, 2014 GYMNASTICS Lothrop proves she's back on point Griffin Adams ASST. SPORTS EDITOR tit4o 40 *It • CHRIS AYERS/The Daily Utah Chronicle Corrie Lothrop competes on the beam at the Huntsman Center against Georgia last Saturday. When the 2014 season began, one point of particular excitement was the fact that Corrie Lothrop would be returning to the lineup after missing most of last year because of a torn Achilles tendon. The Danvers, Mass. native had received All-American honors in her first two seasons with the Red Rocks and was the Pac-12 allaround champion in 2012. Lothrop's comeback has had its ups and downs. She believes the two events she has competed on in almost every meet in this season, bars and beam, have gotten even better than before the injury. She has set a new career-high score on beam this season, recording a 9.95o in a meet against Arizona State, and tied her career high on bars with a 9.925. Despite the positive improvement she has noticeably gained on those events, Lothrop's plate has been a little more empty than what she was used to in years past. As a former all-arounder, Lothrop had been accustomed to competing on all four events in every meet, but she has yet to do so this season. "We've been trying to stay a little more conservative in [vault and floor]," said co-head coach Megan Marsden. "If we said 'go,' I'm sure she would find a way to go. Hopefully we are going to make it through the season without needing to use her on those events." Part of the reason Lothrop hasn't had to compete on floor and vault is because of the depth Utah has on those events and the success the team has had throughout the campaign. The Red Rocks currently lead the nation on floor and are sitting in second behind LSU on vault. With the team being so good at those two events, coaches are saving Lothrop's talents for the events where she is really needed. Even though coaches are hoping they won't be forced to use Lothrop on vault and floor throughout the remainder of this season, she is training hard on them just in case and wants to compete on them again at some point. "I've been really pushing for trying to get back in and trying to make sure that my foot and the rest of my body can handle it," she said. "I think at this point, it's not even my foot. It's making sure my back and everything stays good for the rest of the season and next year." When Lothrop initially suffered her season-ending injury last February, she was unsure if she even wanted to attempt to complete her final two years of eligibility. The 2013 postseason changed all that. As Utah missed the Super Six for the first time since 1999, Lothrop realized she wanted to return. "I told myself that I don't want [this year] to be my last year," she said. "It was around that time that I knew for sure that I wanted to come back." No matter what lineups she finds herself a part of, Lothrop is ready to help out the team in any way possible. By pushing hard through rehab and coming back strong this year, she has proven to her team and her coaches that she is back not just for the present, but the future as well. "It's a little hard, because of course I would love to try to [compete all four events] again," she said. "If not this year, then for sure next year." g.adams@chronicle.utah.edu MEN'S TENNIS Utes claim two victories in Sin City Ben Jasarevic STAFF WRITER The Utes wrapped up their nonconference schedule last weekend in Las Vegas and came away from Sin City with two close victories. Utah first faced the hometown UNLV Rebels and won 4-3, then followed that up with another 4-3 victory over Marquette. The Utes now have an overall record of 12-3. UNLV got out to a 3-1 lead after snagging the doubles point and besting Slim Hamza and Ben Tasevac in the top two singles spots, but it was not able to hold on to the victory as Utah came back and won the last three matchups. Patrick Mayer and Alejandro Medinilla grabbed the first two, and Devin Lane sealed the deal with a win over Dimitar Petrov 6-o, 6-7(4), 6-2. "The third set, I just came out with a lot of intensity and just tried to stay focused on my court and not worry on what was going on around me and came out how I wanted," Lane said. "It was a pretty intense match. I think we kind of came in thinking, 'It's gonna be an easy match,' and we kind of had our guards down a little bit." The next day against the Golden Eagles, the Utes came out of the gate strong, winning the doubles point. They then split the six singles matches, but that was enough to win the contest. Hamza, Medinilla and Cowley were responsible for Utah's singles victories. "Coming out that day, we wanted to not do what we did against UNLV and come out ready to go and thinking it was gonna be a tough match, which it was," Lane said. The Utes will not compete this weekend but will face Stanford on Mar. 28 and Cal on Mar. 3o at home to open Pac-12 play. "We're all going in with a lot of confidence, thinking we can do well," Lane said about competing in the conference. "If we beat Stanford and then squeak out a couple more against Oregon, Washington and Arizona, we'll be in good shape to make national championships." b.jasarevic@chronicle.utah.edu 221 S 1300 E Salt Lake City I 801.582.5001 Everyday Value Menu $S FootIongs: B.L.T. Black Forest Ham Cold Cut Combo Egg & Cheese Omelete Veggie Delite 200 S LIJ 0 0 a) SUBWAY" $6 Footlongs: Meatball Marinara Seafood Sensation Spicy Italian See Our Other Locations: 1314 S Foothill Dr. (Foothill Village) 801.581.1322 421 E 400 S 801.355.3259 Gateway Mall (Food Court) 801.456.0798 974 E 2100 S (Sugarhouse) 801.485.8658 swinge STUDENT FRIENDLY - GO UTES! The PRESTON ZUBAL/The Daily Utah Chronicle Alejandro Medinilla competes against Utah State University at the Eccles Tennis Center on Feb. 8. GARCIA BARLOW Continued from page 7 Continued from page 7 cracking the SportsCenter Top io plays. And of course, every great team has a floor general that can lead the charge and run the offense. Arizona has that in T.J. McConnell. While not a major scoring threat, McConnell sets his teammates up with good looks, averaging 5.5 assists per game. The Duquesne transfer has also bought into the defensive-minded scheme that head coach Sean Miller has implemented, coming away with nearly two steals per game. Finally, the reason I believe Arizona will win the championship is because of the road it has to take to get there. The Wildcats start with a first round matchup with Weber State, a game that should be over by halftime. The next game will prove to be the hardest, as a showdown with the winner of the GonzagaOklahoma State game will be waiting in the Round of 32. If and when they can get past that, I don't foresee too much trouble. In my opinion, Arizona is simply too good on the defensive side of the ball to not win this tournament. Despite the occasional struggle on offense from time to time, the juggernaut of a defense is good enough to carry this team all the way to the top. deem itself after some late-season losses, but Florida will easily juice the Orange, making it look easy in the Elite Eight. This is where things get a little tricky. The Gators will go up against Iowa State, a talented, hot team. The Cyclones have shown as of late why they are a Final Four contender, recently winning the Big 12 Tournament. This game will be one of the best of the entire tournament, but Florida will ultimately prevail in a close contest no larger than seven points. Who will the Gators be playing in the National Championship? Surprise! Here comes Louisville, looking to repeat as champions. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, their championship run will fall short as Florida's defense will play like it never has before en route to a Gator championship win. There it is — the top team in the country finishing on the top of the basketball world, yet again. Sure, there will be some upsets in the earlier rounds, creating some storylines that will be the talk of the season, but in the end, the boys from Gainesville will reign supreme. d.garcia@chronicle.utah.edu b.barlow@chronicle.utah.edu IrMir J • B P• STIN GROUP LEADERS (10.15 kids) for SLC School District After School program 19.5 hrs/wk; M-TH 2:30.5:30/6pm and Fridays 12:30-5:30/6pm. Start at $9.50 per hour. Send resume to: heidi.clark@slcschools.org or call 578.8275 Deals for food, entertainment and everything else for students, faculty and staff at the University of Utah. Go to: www.UtahCampusDeals.com and sign up today to get $10 in Deal Bucks! *Tell us where you want deals from email ads©utah.edu Follow us on Twitter! tw ittor co-nilTheChro-ny |