What is the status of Grace McCallum? Jillian Hoffman?
Saturday night at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah gymnastics made history, winning a third consecutive Pac-12 championship, something no team had ever managed before.
Watching the Red Rocks do it, up close and personal, were Grace McCallum and Jillian Hoffman.
The pair of Utah gymnasts were unable to compete Saturday due to injury and their absences were felt, even as their team pulled off a remarkable victory.
McCallum is currently sidelined with a hyperextended right knee — she was seen sporting a large brace — while Hoffman has now missed back-to-back meets with a foot injury (she wore a boot on her right foot at the Pac-12 championships).
Related
Will either gymnast be able to compete for Utah in the postseason?
That remains to be seen, but there is optimism.
Per Utah head coach Tom Farden, Hoffman is expected to be available in the postseason, though he did not specify whether that was both NCAA regionals and nationals or just the later.
“My gut tells me we will have her back in the postseason,” Farden said. “Nobody wants it more than Jill. All of these athletes are great, but that kid is driven.”
As for McCallum, she was walking around the arena without crutches for the first time in public and Farden revealed that she has been training.
“Before I did this, before I coached these kids (tonight), I coached Grace,” Farden said. “She is doing great. She is doing fantastic on bars.
“A lot of it is how she continues to progress. As you guys can see she is walking around. She is doing great. She really really is.”
Utah will not compete again for two weeks, until the weekend of March 29, at the Los Angeles Regional at Pauley Pavilion.
If the Red Rocks proceed to qualify for nationals, they would then be off until April 13, when they would compete in the semifinals of the NCAA gymnastics championships at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.
