Completed Event: Gymnastics versus NCAA Championship Final on April 19, 2025 , , 4th of 4 (197.2375)
Final Score
Gymnastics
4th of 4 (197.2375)
vs NCAA Championship Final
Update on Utah vs. BYU Gymnastics
6/21/1999 12:00 AM | Gymnastics
January 25, 1999
QUICKLY
The No. 3 ranked Utes (2-0) make their second straight road trip, heading down the road to Provo for a dual meet with Brigham Young (2-2) on Friday ... The meet is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Marriott Center ... Utah, ranked No. 2 last week, slipped a notch to No. 3 in the latest poll, which is based on total average for the first time of the year ... BYU is unranked ... Ute head coach Greg Marsden will go after win No. 675 this Friday. Marsden is 674-96-3 in 24 years at Utah ... Utah is coming off a fourth-place NCAA finish in 1998 ... The Utes have won a record ten national championships, including four in the 1990s (1990, '92, '94, '95).
"WATCH" THE UTES ON THE WEB
All Utah home gymnastics meets, and road* meets will be posted "live" on
the Internet this year. To follow the meet in progress, go to Utah's web
page at www.UtahUtes.com. *Real time stats for road meets are contingent
upon the logistics at the opposing school.
THE RANKINGS
Utah slid a place to No. 3 in the latest rankings, which were issued on January 26. Alabama climbed from third to first, while Georgia slipped a spot to No. 2. Finishing up the top five are Louisiana State and Arizona State. The complete poll can be found on page 5 of this release. It is updated each Wednesday on the internet under www.UtahUtes.com.
LAST WEEK
The Utes dodged a bullet at No. 9 Minnesota, coming from behind on the
final event to win 194.600-194.175. Utah led after two events before
falling behind due to a substandard floor performance. But a great balance
beam effort, highlighted by Shannon Bowles' 9.95 and Theresa Kulikowski's
9.90, erased a .250 three-event deficit and led to Utah's 15th victory
without a loss against the Gophers. Kulikowski, a freshman, won her second
all-around in as many meets, scoring a 39.15. She tied for first on bars
with a 9.875. Bowles won beam (9.95) and junior Denise Jones took first on
vault (9.75).
TRAINER'S TABLE
Everyone is healthy to start the week.
UTAH COACH GREG MARSDEN
Greg Marsden, the most successful coach in collegiate gymnastics history,
is in his 24th year at the U. He owns a 674-96-3 record (337-43-1 regular
season). His ten national championships is more than double that of any
other coach. Four of those titles have come in the '90s (1990, '92, '94,
'95). Fourteen of Marsden's teams have placed in the top-two nationally.
The only coach in Utah's gymnastics history, Marsden is a seven-time
national coach of the year selection.
SERIES SHORTS
Utah leads 59-2 ... Utes lead 10-2 in Provo ... Utah's only "complete" loss
to BYU occurred last March in Provo (196.050-195.975) ... Utah's other loss
was a "half" meet affair, when the Utes pulled out of the meet after two
events on Mar. 26, 1994 in Provo and lost 194.125-125.800 ... Utes took two
of three last year, winning in Salt Lake City on Mar. 6 and in Tempe,
Ariz., on Apr. 4 at the NCAA Midwest Regional ... Utah and BYU went 1-2 at
regionals ... Utes won 11 straight between their only two losses ... series
opened in 1976, with Utah winning in Salt Lake City.
UTE NOTES
Utah is the nation's top ranked team on the balance beam in the latest rankings. The Utes are averaging a 48.937 on the beam ... There will probably be some lineup juggling this week. Freshman Theresa Kulikowski, the nation's third-ranked all-arounder, will likely do just three events this week (bars, beam and floor). Senior Angie Leonard should rejoin the vault lineup against BYU, bringing her back up to three events (vault, bars and beam). Leonard, who went all-around in the season-opener, is nursing a sore hamstring ... Senior All-American Molly Northrop did her first routine of the year to "count" last week and scored a 9.65 on bars at Minnesota. She made a pitch to return to the beam lineup, as well, scoring a 9.75 in exhibition at UM ... Freshman Kylee Wagner competed for the first time as a Ute in Minnesota and scored a 9.625 on floor. Wagner was docked a tenth of a point for an "illegal" earring.
ALL-AMERICA ANGIE
Senior All-American Angie Leonard, while continuing to be hampered by injuries (off-season shoulder surgery and a recent hamstring problem), has hit all six of her routines this year. She currently ranks sixth in the nation in the all-around (39.075 average). Leonard logged her 16th career 39.00 all-around score (39.075) in the season-opener on January 15, despite training all four events for just a week. She backed off to two events last week (bars and beam) due to a sore hamstring. Leonard, who placed third all-around and second on vault in the first meet, scored a 9.70 on bars and a 9.725 on beam last week at Minnesota. If her hamstring continues to improve, she will return to the vault lineup this Friday. She was a first-team vault All-American as a sophomore. One of Utah's most consistent performers ever, she has now "hit" 135 of 148 (91%) of her competitive routines. She is 39 of 42 (93%) on bars in her four years. A two-time first-team bar All-American, she went almost two full years without a fall on bars. Her career all-around best is 39.625, set against Stanford in 1997.
"BOWLES" THEM OVER
Sophomore Shannon Bowles, a 1997 U.S. National Team member and a 1998 first-team All-America all-arounder, has competed on every event except floor this year. She is expected to rejoin the floor lineup, where she is working on a new routine, in the near future. She is currently tied for third in the nation on the beam, with a 9.850 average score. Bowles recorded Utah's highest score of the year to date last week in Minnesota, when she concluded the competition with a winning 9.95 beam routine. Her career best on beam is a 10.0. After competing on just bars and beam in the season-opener, she made the vault lineup last week. Bowles, a first-team All-American in the all-around and on bars and beam as a freshman last year, had a team-best eight 39.00 all-around scores in 1998. Her career best is a 39.60, which is tied for the eighth best score in school history. She has "hit" 51 of 55 routines in her career (93%).
WAY KULIO
Freshman standout Theresa Kulikowski, arguably the best freshman recruit in the nation, is living up to her billing. A 1995-96 U.S. National Team member and the first alternate for the 1996 U.S. Olympic team, has won both all-around competitions this year. She is ranked No. 2 in the nation in the all-around (39.275 average) and on beam (9.875 average). She is ranked sixth on bars (9.887 average). Kulikowski had the best freshman debut ever by a Ute on January 15, winning the all-around against Stanford with a 39.40. Last week, she scored a 39.15 to win the all-around at Minnesota. The fabulous freshman has also won four individual competitions (bars, beam and floor vs. Stanford and bars vs. Minnesota). In the most recent rankings (which will change on Tuesday), she was the nation's third ranked all-arounder. Kulikowski, who has a start value of a 10.0 on every event except vault, might get bumped out of the vault lineup this week while she works to upgrade her difficulty.
MORE ON THE UTES
Deidra Graham - Freshman is solid in two eventsmaking bottom half of lineup on bars and floor ... Utah's final competitor on floor ... placed second on both events in season-opener against Stanford, scoring 9.85 on bars and 9.90 on floor ... 9.775 on bars was third at Minnesota, but she fell on floor ... has hit 3 of 4 routines ... 1995 U.S. National Team member and senior international elite won bars at 1998 Junior Olympic Championships. Denise JonesJunior All-America all-arounder is having typical early season problems with consistency ... won vault (9.75) last week at Minnesota and scored 9.725 on bars, but struggled on floor (9.425) and beam (9.60) ... hit three events against Stanford in opener, tying career floor high with 9.85 ... tied for second on vault vs. Stanford (9.80) ... has competed all-around since her freshman year ...11 career 39.00 all-around scores ... has "hit" 94 of 104 (90%) of her career routines. Ashley KeverJunior has solidified hold on three-event status (vault, beam, floor) ... 9.80 on floor at Minnesota was best by Utah and tied for second overall ... in first year of competing on vault ... has "hit" all 6 routines this year ... scored 9.725 in her first-ever competitive collegiate vault.
Molly Northrop - Senior is training strictly on bars and beam this year, where she is an All-American ... in first routine to count this year, scored a 9.65 on bars at Minnesota ... did great job on beam in exhibition at UM, scoring a 9.75 ... first-team bars All-American in 1998 (6th) and second-team beam All-American in 1997 (16th) ... 1998 GTE Academic All-American (second team) .
Sarah Northrop - Senior has been training on vault, bars and beam ... hopes to avoid injury problems that have plagued her since she was a second-team All-American as a freshman in 1996 (all-around and bars) ... competed exhibition on bars against Stanford and Minnesota, falling both times.
Angelika Schatton - Junior has new routines in every event, but has made just one lineup (vault) ... has nailed both vaults, scoring 9.70 vs. Stanford and 9.725 vs. Minnesota ... placed second on vault at Minnesota ... might lead off vault lineup this week.
Jenny Schmidt - Junior is attempting a second comeback from knee injury first suffered as a freshman against Stanford on March 7, 1997 ... re-injured knee prior to 1998 season and underwent second surgery in less than two years ... is training only on bars, where she has gone exhibition in both meets ... 9.675 in exhibition at Minnesota.
Lindsay Tanner - Freshman walk-on is competing for position in floor lineup ... has fallen on both exhibition attempts on floor ... Level 10 gymnast competed at 1998 J.O. National Championships.
Kylee Wagner - Freshman cracked floor lineup at Minnesota and scored 9.625 (was docked .10 for an "illegal" earring) ... expected to remain in floor lineup this week ... is vying for place in vault lineup ... nice job in exhibition against Stanford, scoring 9.725 on vault and 9.75 on floor ... at 1998 J.O. Nationals, she placed 10th all-around, fourth on floor and eighth on vault.
Theresa Wolf - Sophomore is off to a great start ... placed second all-around against Stanford (39.125) and is ranked third in the all-around (39.125 average) in the latest poll ... tied career vault best (9.775) and had 9.750 on bars and beam and 9.85 on floor against Stanford ... "hit" all three events at Minnesota as well, including 9.775 on both beam and floor ... might return to all-around lineup this week.
BYU REVIEW
2-2 ... struggled in first meet, with 13 falls or major breaks ... scored
190.125 to finish third at Rocky Mountain Open, behind Denver and Oklahoma
and ahead of Texas Woman's and host Air Force ... Kelly Parkinson scored
38.325 to lead BYU all-arounders.
GREG MARSDEN SAYS
"We didn't accomplish everything we wanted to in our first road meet.
Hopefully we can get back in the gym and correct some of the problems we
saw at Minnesota and do a better job of adjusting to the road. It's not
like the sky is falling though. The further I get away from the meet, the
more I realize it was to be expected. We have some young people competing
and the road is tough. The only way you learn to compete well on the road
is experience. What I like is that this is a team that likes to win, that
wants to win and is willing to work to win. Obviously we have a lot of
talent and a lot of depth. The most significant thing that's happened in
the first two meets is when we went into balance beam trailing Minnesota
and rose to the occasion to win the meet. It's a cliche to talk about what
a BYU-Utah meet means to both teams, but it's especially significant this
year because they beat us down there at the end of last season. We'd like
to go down there and have a good showing."
UTE WINNERS
Theresa Kulikowski (6) All-Around (2) 39.400 vs. Stanford, Jan. 15 39.150 vs. Minnesota, Jan. 23NEW TRAINING CENTER OPENSBars (2) 9.900 vs. Stanford, Jan. 15 9.875 vs. Minnesota, Jan. 23
Beam (1) 9.850 vs. Stanford, Jan. 15
Floor (1) 9.925 vs. Stanford, Jan. 15
Shannon Bowles (1) Beam (1) 9.950 vs. Minnesota, Jan. 23
Denise Jones (1) Vault (1) 9.750 vs. Minnesota, Jan. 23
After 23 years training in HPER West 106, the Utah gymnastics program moved into a new home on Dec. 28, 1998. The new $2 million Women's Gymnastics Training Center is a stand alone facility located adjacent to HPER Eastjust north of Ute volleyball's Crimson Court. The 18,000 square foot training center was funded through private donations, with a $1 million lead gift from the Zeke, Jr. and Katherine Dumke family. The facility features the latest equipment and matting, as well as locker, training, aerobics, strength and rehabilitation areas. Although the facility is open for training, finishing work remains and construction is still underway on the aerobics addition.
NACGC COACHES POLL (Jan. 26, 1999)No. Team Average 1. Alabama 195.867 2. Georgia 195.625 3. Utah 195.325 4. Louisiana State 194.275 5. Arizona State 194.112 6. Michigan 193.675 7. Penn State 193.475 8. Minnesota 193.375 9. UCLA 193.187 10. Stanford 192.933 11. Ohio State 192.625 12. Illinois-Chicago 192.608 13. Oregon State 192.258 14. Iowa State 192.250 15. Washington 192.067 16. Denver 192.000 17. Nebraska 191.987 18. Florida 191.983 19. Oklahoma 191.558 20. Auburn 191.350 21. Arizona 191.312 22. Maryland 191.100 23. Utah State 191.025 24. Ball State 190.875 25. Kentucky 190.825
*Poll is based on total season average from Jan. 26-Feb. 23, and on regional qualifying score from Mar. 2 on.
Fan Fest 2025 Coaches and Players Interviews: Gymnastics
Sunday, August 17
Seven New Inductees to Join Utah Athletics Hall of Fame in October 2025
Monday, July 28
Utah Gymnastic's Grace McCallum call out from University of Utah President Randall
Thursday, May 08
Utah Gymnastics Post-Meet Press Conference 4.5.25 | NCAA Regional Semifinal
Sunday, April 06