Utah’s Grace McCallum is congratulated by vault coach Jimmy Pratt as No. 4 Utah takes on No. 5 UCLA on the Jon M. Huntsman Heart in Salt Lake Metropolis on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. Laura Seitz, Deseret Information
Utah and UCLA has turn into certainly one of, if not the best rivalries in ladies’s school gymnastics through the years.
Particularly after the Utes joined the Pac-12 Convention.
Since 2012, Utah and UCLA have mixed to win 10 of 11 out there convention titles and the chances are good that one of many two groups will win the Pac-12 this season as effectively (Cal has a reputable argument too).
Throughout their time as convention rivals, the Crimson Rocks and Bruins have turn into must-see TV, as evidenced by Friday evening’s meet being broadcast on ESPN2.
With UCLA leaving the Pac-12 subsequent season for the Large Ten subsequent season, Friday evening’s conflict between Utah and UCLA was the ultimate common season convention meet between the colleges.
Convention championships nonetheless await, as do potential matchups throughout the postseason, however Utah and UCLA meets had been at risk of being killed off attributable to convention realignment.
Have been being the important thing phrase.
Following Utah’s victory over UCLA — during which the Crimson Rocks scored a season-high 198.200 — Utah head coach Tom Farden made it clear that Utah will proceed to schedule UCLA sooner or later.
“We're set,” Farden stated, matter-of-factly. “Completely. For us, this rivalry is without doubt one of the best rivalries in school gymnastics.”
Farden, who's in command of Utah’s scheduling, went on to guarantee that UCLA is on board with continued conferences between the applications. The Crimson Rocks and Bruins will proceed to compete head-to-head in opposition to one another going ahead.
Which is consistent with how Farden approaches scheduling.
Utah has had no scarcity of excessive profile opponents lately, this 12 months internet hosting LSU after which touring to Oklahoma. UCLA will fall beneath the identical umbrella going ahead, with different excessive profile opponents being possible too.
“It seems generally that I’m making an attempt to eat an elephant with a chopstick,” Farden stated. “We opened with LSU this 12 months and wait till you see who we open with subsequent 12 months.”