Utah Gymnastics Welcomes Back Amelie Morgan For Pac-12 Championships
Mar 19, 2024, 3:42 PM
SALT LAKE CITY – The Red Rocks have spent about a month without team captain Amelie Morgan but will be welcoming her back with open arms just in time for the Pac-12 Championships.
Morgan, who departed the team just hours after beating UCLA in Pauley Pavilion, has been back in London competing for the chance to be part of team Great Britain in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
A standout on beam and bars for the Utes, Morgan was greatly missed by the Red Rocks who are excited to not only have her routines back in the rotations, but her calm, demeanor as well.
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Amelie Morgan Crushes English/British Gymnastics Championships, Turns Attention To Pac-12 Title
Morgan’s time back in the UK could not have gone much better as the British native finished third in the all-around at the English Gymnastics Championships. A week later, Morgan finished fourth in the all-around for the British Gymnastics Championships.
Now she is back in SLC working to be ready for the Pac-12 Championships on March 23.
“She was exceptional over there,” head coach Carly Dockendorf said of Morgan’s performance back in the UK. “To think, she hasn’t trained nearly as many hours as all of those other athletes who have just been focusing on training elite and training for the Olympics. She has been balancing school, college, competing for us and training elite. For her to go back and perform the way she did, I don’t think she probably could have asked for anything more of herself. It was such a short window of time. It’s not like she’s been training the past few years for elite. She’s really just been doing college.”
Needless to say, a talent like that is always welcomed back, and Dockendorf says the Red Rocks are excited for Morgan to be back and competing in postseason with them.
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“The team is so excited to have her back,” Dockendorf said. “Of course, her scores will be important for us on a few events, but I think more than anything, she brings a level of confidence and stability, not just to the staff, but to all the athletes. She is just really that grounded person, that balanced person that everyone goes to. When she is out there and in the mix with the other athletes on the team, she keeps everyone humbled, confident and feeling good about what they are going to do.”
The Red Rocks team captain has only been back in Salt Lake for about 24 hours with her first practice coming earlier on March 19. Dockendorf says they will take it easy on her to allow her to adjust to the time difference and get back in the swing of things in the lead up to the Pac-12 Championships.
“We’ll be cautious with her today, just get her moving around a little bit with basics,” Dockendorf said. “Then plan on having her at podium practice on Friday.”
Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for KSLsports.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on X, Instagram, and Threads: @BodkinKSLsports
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