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6/21/1999 12:00 AM | Gymnastics
March 15, 1999
UTAH VS. NEW HAMPSHIRE
QUICKLY
The No. 3 ranked Utes (10-1) make their last road trip of the year this
weekend, and it's a long one. Utah will trek to Durham, N.H., to face
unranked New Hampshire (10-7), Saturday at 7:30
p.m. (ET) ...The Utes hope to bounce back from their first loss of the
year, suffered Sunday at Oregon State (197.325-196.700) ... Utah is 4-1 on
the road ... It will be a homecoming of sorts for Ute sophomore
All-American Shannon Bowles, who hails from nearby Lee, N.H. ... The Utes
are on Spring Break this week, one reason behind their unusually early
departure for a road meet. They'll travel to New Hampshire on Thursday for
Saturday's meet ... Utah and UNH have met one common opponent this year:
Utah defeated Brigham Young on Jan. 29 in Provo, Utah (195.150-192.000),
while UNH lost to BYU on Feb. 5 in Columbia, Mo. (193.300-194.225) ...
Utah closes the regular season on March 27 against BYU in Salt Lake City
... Utah has been ranked in the top four since the preseason, with the
exception of one week when it hadn't yet competed and was not eligible for
the rankings ... Utah finished fourth at the 1998 NCAA Championships ...
The Utes have won a record ten national championships, including four in
the 1990s (1990, '92, '94, '95).
TV
None.
"WATCH" THE UTES ON THE WEB
All Utah home and away* gymnastics 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 STREAK
Utah's national record regular season home win streak reached 150 with its
victory over Washington on Mar. 6. The Utes are 5-0 at home this year, with
wins against Stanford, Southern Utah, Louisiana State, Florida and
Washington. The streak turned 20 years old on Feb. 20, between Utah's wins
over (then) No. 3 LSU and 1998 NCAA runner-up Florida. Utah last lost a
regular season home meet 20 years ago to Cal State-Fullerton on Feb. 20,
1979. The next longest home winning streak in the nation by a women's
gymnastics team is held by Georgia, which has won 41 straight regular
season meets dating back to Mar. 9, 1991 when, ironically, Utah defeated
the Bulldogs in Athens. In the last 14 years, just three opponents have
come within a point and a half of Utah in a regular season meet in the
Huntsman Center: Utah defeated Oregon State by .75 in 1996, LSU by 1.225 on
Feb. 19, 1999 and Georgia by 1.4 points in 1991. Among the teams to fall to
Utah since 1979 are national powers Georgia, Alabama, UCLA, Michigan,
Florida, LSU, Oregon State, Arizona, Arizona State, Penn State, Nebraska,
Brigham Young, Washington and Stanford. Including postseason competition
(regionals and nationals), Utah's all-time home record is 290-12 (96%).
UTES ARE NATION'S TOP DRAW
Utah, the highest drawing gymnastics team in NCAA history, is again leading
the nation's attendance race. Through five home meets, Utah is averaging
10,506 spectators. Second is Alabama, averaging 9,428. Utah, which has
averaged nearly 11,000 spectators per home meet for the last eight years
(including the current season), has led the NCAA in women's gymnastics
attendance in all but one of the last 17 years. Last year Utah ranked first
in the nation by averaging 10,211 spectators per meet. Utah's best crowd of
this year11,503 for the Southern Utah meet on Feb. 5was remarkable in
that the Utes were going up against the Utah Jazz' home opener against the
Chicago Bulls in a rematch of last year's NBA finals. A home Jazz game also
conflicted with Utah's February 21 meet with Florida, which drew 9,558. In
their last home meet, the Ute gymnasts competed before a crowd of 10,755,
despite going "head to head" with the nationally-ranked Utah men's
basketball team, which was playing for the WAC Basketball Championship in a
game televised by ESPN.
PRACTICE TIMES & INTERVIEW POLICY
Tuesday and Wednesday (1:00-4:30) in the Women's Gymnastics Training
Center. All practices are open. Media interested in interviews should plan
to be in the practice facility by 1:00 p.m. All athlete interviews must be
completed by 30 minutes prior to the start of practice. Head Coach Greg
Marsden is available during practice, upon request. Call sports information
director Liz Abel at 801-581-3511 to arrange interviews.
THE RANKINGS
Utah stayed at No. 3 in the nation for the fourth straight week and the eighth week overall in the new poll released Mar. 16. The rankings are determined by regional qualifying score (RQS). The RQS is based on a team's six best regular season scores, of which two must be home and two must be away. The high score and low score are then dropped and the remaining four scores are averaged to reach the RQS. The Mar. 16 poll is found on page 7 of this release. Each Wednesday, the rankings (and release) are updated on the internet under www.UtahUtes.com.
LAST WEEK
Utah suffered its first loss of the year to a record-setting Oregon State
team Sunday in Corvallis, 197.325-196.700. The Utes, minus all-arounders
Theresa Wolf (knee injury), Deidra Graham (ill) and Angie Leonard (competed
just one event due to a sore back), didn't count a fall but didn't have
enough firepower to stay undefeated in the face of a school-record score by
OSU. Freshman Theresa Kulikowski won her fourth straight all-around with a
39.60, which is tied for the ninth-best score in Utah history. Kulikowski
also tied for first on bars with Leonard (9.95), while Shannon Bowles won
the beam (9.95). Denise Jones finished third in the all-around (39.325).
TRAINER'S TABLE
All-arounder Theresa Wolf (39.225 best) injured her knee in practice on
Mar. 1 and has missed the last two meets. She will also miss this week's
meet at New Hampshire. She hopes to return for Utah's final regular season
home meet on March 27. All-arounder Angie Leonard (39.50 best) is
questionable with a sore back.
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 682-97-3 record (345-44-1 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 1-0 ... only previous meeting was on Mar. 30, 1978, when Utah
defeated UNH 141.10-131.35 in Seattle ... New Hampshire and Utah competed
at the same site in 1994 at the NCAA Championships in Salt Lake City, but
they were in different sessions. New Hampshire finished 12th in its sole
national appearance. Utah was the 1994 NCAA champion.
UTE NOTES
Freshman walk-on Lindsay Tanner competed "to count" for the first time
Sunday in Corvallis, Ore., scoring a 9.65 on vault and a 9.75 on floor ...
Freshman Kylee Wagner competed "to count" for the first time on vault
(9.80) and beam (8.65) at OSU ... Utah's 197.625 against Utah State on Feb.
26 was the third highest score in school history and one of ten 197.00
scores ever by Utah. The Utes have two 197.00-plus scores this year ...
Utah has scored a 49.00 or better on bars and floor in the last five meets
and on beam in the last four meets ... The Utes' best event is bars, where their 49.3625 RQS ranks third in the nation (Mar. 16 rankings) ... Utah is third in the nation on floor (49.3625 RQS), fourth on beam 49.1812 RQS) and fifth on vault (49.0375 RQS) ...Utah
is 3-0 against top 10 opponents this year, defeating (then) No. 3 Louisiana
State, No. 7 Stanford and No. 8 Minnesota ... Freshman Theresa Kulikowski
has posted three of the top 10 all-around scores in school history: She
scored a 39.725 on Feb. 26, which is the fifth-best Ute score ever, and her
39.600 on Feb. 22 and Mar. 14 is tied for ninth ... Kulikowski is Utah's
win leader with 25. She has won six all-arounds, including the last four
... Four Utes have won all-around titles this year: Kulikowski (Stanford,
Minnesota, Florida, Utah State, Washington, Oregon State), Denise Jones
(LSU), Deidra Graham (Southern Utah) and Theresa Wolf (Arizona) ...
All-arounder Theresa Wolf has missed the last three meetsUtah State
(back), Washington and Oregon State (knee). She is out for this week's meet
with UNH.
ALL-AMERICA ANGIE
Senior All-American Angie Leonard, the nation's ninth-ranked bar worker (9.9062 RQS), competed only on bars against Oregon State on Mar. 14 due to a sore back. She tied for first on her only event, scoring a 9.95. Leonard is questionable for this week's meet at New Hampshire. She had scored two straight 39.00s before her back worsened (39.375 vs. Washington, 39.50 vs. Utah State). She has gone all-around four times, topping 39.00 three times. She has 18 career 39.00-or-better all-around scores. She was a double winner in two meets this year-capturing bars and floor against both Southern Utah and Arizona. Leonard has twice scored a career high (9.95) on floor in 1999. She has seven wins this year, including four on bars. She has 20 career bar victories. In her four years, Leonard has "hit" 156 of 173 (90%) of her competitive routines. She is 46 of 50 (92%) on bars. She has "hit" 25 of 29 routines this year. 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 was a 1997 U.S. National Team member and a 1998 first-team All-America all-arounder. She currently ranks second in the nation on the beam-her best event-with a 9.9312 RQS. She has won or tied for first on beam six times and has five 9.90 or better scores. Her season best on beam is a 9.95, scored against Minnesota (Jan. 23), Louisiana State (Feb. 19) and Oregon State (Mar. 14). Her career best on beam is a 10.0. She also has two vault victories in 1999. Bowles, Utah's win leader as a freshman last year with 14, has eight wins this year-second to freshman Theresa Kulikowski (25). Bowles' best all-around was second against Florida on Feb. 22 (39.275). Her best all-around score of the year was a 39.375 at Utah State on Feb. 26. 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 ninth best score in school history. She has "hit" 75 of 82 routines in her career (92%).
WAY KULIO
Freshman standout Theresa Kulikowski, arguably the best freshman recruit in the nation, is living up to her billing. The 1995-96 U.S. National Team member and first alternate for the 1996 U.S. Olympic team has won 25 combined individual event and all-around titles, including four straight all-arounds. The nation's third-ranked all-arounder (39.5375 RQS) has topped 39.00 in all seven of her all-around attempts and she won six of those. She has three of the top 10 all-around scores in school history: Her 39.725 at Utah State on Feb. 26 ranks fifth in the books, while her 39.60 against Florida on Feb. 22 and vs. Oregon State on Mar. 14 is tied for ninth. In the latest national rankings (Mar. 16), she is tied for second on bars (9.9437 RQS) and fourth on both bars (9.9375 RQS) and beam (9.9062 RQS). Kulikowski had the best freshman debut ever by a Ute on January 15, when she scored a 39.40 to win the all-around against Stanford. She set another freshman mark on Feb. 26 in Logan, Utah, when she scored two 10.0s in a single meet (on bars and floor). Kulikowski, who became just the third Ute freshman ever to score a 10.0 (Shannon Bowles and former Ute Traci Sommer are the others), is the first U. rookie to score a 10.0 on the road. She has the highest individual event score by a Ute this year on bars (10.0), floor (10.0) and beam (9.95, tie). Kulikowski leads the team in wins with 25: all-around, bars, beam and floor vs. Stanford; all-around and bars vs. Minnesota; beam and floor vs. BYU; beam and floor vs. Southern Utah; bars and floor vs. LSU; all-around, bars, beam and floor vs. Florida; all-around, bars, beam and floor vs. Utah State/Boise State; all-around, bars and floor vs. Washington; and all-around and bars vs. Oregon State. "Kulio" missed the February 12 meet at Arizona due to illness and did not compete on vault in two meets. She returned to the all-around lineup against LSU and placed third all-around with a 39.125. She has "hit" 32 of 34 routines, with both falls on bars.
MORE ON THE UTES
Deidra Graham: Freshman won her collegiate all-around debut on Feb. 5,
scoring a 39.10 against Southern Utah ... best event is bars, where she has finished in the top two six times and scored a career-best 9.95 vs. Utah State (Feb. 26) ... won bars at BYU with a 9.875 ... ranked 12th in the nation on the floor (9.900 RQS) ... has five 9.90 floor scores, including a 9.95 against Washington Mar. 6 that tied her for first ... career-best 9.85 on vault on Mar. 6 ... has "hit" 25 of 30 routines (2 falls on floor, 3 on beam) ... missed Oregon State meet on Mar. 14 (ill) ... 1995 U.S. National Team member and senior international elite won bars at 1998 Junior Olympic Championships.
Denise Jones: Junior All-America all-arounder won first-ever all-around against LSU on Feb. 19, scoring a career-best 39.45 ... ranks 13th in the nation in the all-around (39.1877 RQS) ... also had career high on bars (9.925) vs. LSU ... set career beam high on Feb. 26 (9.90) and has twice tied floor best (9.85) ... season-best 9.875 on vault on Feb. 22 ... competed only on beam at Arizona (Feb. 12) due to sore ankles ... 39.325 all-around at Oregon State, 39.275 vs. Utah State/Boise State on Feb. 26, 39.150 vs. Washington on Mar. 6 and 39.00 against Southern Utah on Feb. 5 ... 16 career 39.00 all-around scores ... has won five events this year (2 vault, 1 all-around, 1 bars and 1 beam) ... has "hit" 120 of 131 (91%) of her career routines.
Ashley Kever: Junior is one of Utah's best on vault, beam and floor ... returned to beam and floor lineup on Mar. 6 after missing three meets with hyper-extended knee (suffered during vault warmups on Feb. 19) ... timetable for return to vault lineup is unknown ... went four meets without a miss before fall on floor at Arizona ... won first vault competition of her career on Feb. 5, scoring career-best 9.80 ... season-best 9.875 on beam on Mar. 6 ... season-best 9.825 on floor on Mar. 14 ... has "hit" 18-19 routines this year.
Molly Northrop: Senior is training strictly on bars and beam this year, where she is an All-American ... has made bar lineup seven meets and beam lineup four meets ... career-best 9.925 on beam at Utah State on Feb. 26 ... in first beam to "count" on Feb. 22, scored 9.80 ... season-best 9.85 on bars on Mar. 14 ... 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 All-American (1996) has been training on vault, bars and beam ... in first routine to "count" this year, she scored a 9.825 on bars on Feb. 19 vs. LSU ... 9.775 on bars at Oregon State (Mar. 14) ... 9.75 on bars against Florida (Feb. 22) ... 9.825 exhibition bar routine vs. UW on Mar. 6 ... 9.80 in exhibition on bars at BYU ... also competed exhibition on bars against Stanford, Minnesota, Southern Utah and Utah State/BSU ... 9.80 exhibition vault and 9.65 exhibition floor on Mar. 6 ... missed Arizona meet with illness.
Angelika Schatton: Junior is one of Utah's most consistent vaulters .. averaging 9.767 on vault ... only Ute to vault in all 10 meets ... career-best 9.825 on Feb. 19 vs. LSU on Feb. 19 ... 9.80 vs. Washington on Mar. 6 ... scored 9.775 four times ... has placed second four times: LSU (9.825), Southern Utah (9.775), Minnesota (9.725) and BYU (9.75). Jenny Schmidt: Junior competed "to count" on Feb. 5 for the first time since Mar. 7, 1997 ... led off Utah's bar set with 9.775 ... 9.70 at Arizona on Feb. 12 as Utah's first competitor ... has competed exhibition on bars in seven meets ... best exhibition scores include 9.825 vs. Florida and Washington, 9.775 at BYU and 9.725 at Oregon State ... has undergone two knee surgeries since March 1997.
Lindsay Tanner: Freshman walk-on got first chance to compete to "count" at Oregon State on Mar. 14 and hit both routines ... scored 9.65 on vault and 9.75 on floor at OSU ... scored a 9.90 in exhibition on floor vs. Arizona and Washington ... 9.90 at Arizona would have tied her for first had score been to count ... 9.775 in floor exhibition on Feb. 22 ... has "hit" six floor routines in eight exhibition attempts ... Level 10 gymnast competed at 1998 J.O. National Championships.
Kylee Wagner: Freshman has made floor lineup in eight meets ... career-best 9.90 vs. Utah State/BSU on Feb. 26 ... 9.825 vs. Florida on Feb. 22, Washington on Mar. 6 and Oregon State on Mar. 14 ... 9.775 against SUU on Feb. 5 ... 9.625 at Minnesota included .10 deduction for "illegal" earring ... first vault and beam to "count" came at OSU on Mar. 14 ... scored 9.80 on vault and 8.65 on beam at OSU ... at 1998 J.O. Nationals, she placed 10th all-around, fourth on floor and eighth on vault.
Theresa Wolf: Sophomore has one win in the all-around (Feb. 12) and two runner-up finishes (Jan. 15, Feb. 19) ... career-best 39.225 against LSU on Feb. 19 ... won all-around at Arizona on Feb. 12 (38.925) ... second all-around against Stanford (39.125) ... 38.650 at BYU included her only fall of 1999 (on beam) ... final vaulter in Ute lineup scored career best 9.925 to win vault on Feb. 22 ... won back-to-back vault competitions against LSU and Florida ... did three events against Minnesota and Florida and went all-around in three meets ... has missed four meets so far with injuries (Feb. 5 and Feb. 26, back injury; Mar. 6 and Mar. 14, knee injury) ... knee injury will hold her out at least another week ... has "hit" 21 of 22 routines this year.
All-Around (6)
39.400 vs. Stanford, Jan. 15
39.150 vs. Minnesota, Jan. 23
39.600 vs. Florida, Feb. 22
39.725 vs. Utah State/Boise State, Feb. 26
39.550 vs. Washington, Mar. 6
39.600 vs. Oregon State, Mar. 14
Bars (7)
9.900 vs. Stanford, Jan. 15
9.875 vs. Minnesota, Jan. 23
9.925 vs. Louisiana State, Feb. 19
9.925 vs. Florida, Feb. 22
10.00 vs. Utah State/Boise State, Feb. 26
9.950 vs. Washington, Mar. 6
9.950 vs. Oregon State, Mar. 14
Beam (5)
9.850 vs. Stanford, Jan. 15
9.925 vs. Brigham Young, Jan. 29
9.800 vs. Southern Utah, Feb. 5
9.900 vs. Florida, Feb. 22
10.00 vs. Utah State/Boise State, Feb. 26
Floor (7)
9.925 vs. Stanford, Jan. 15
9.850 vs. Brigham Young, Jan. 29
9.825 vs. Southern Utah, Feb. 5
9.925 vs. Louisiana State, Feb. 19
9.975 vs. Florida, Feb. 22
10.00 vs. Utah State/Boise State, Feb. 26
9.950 vs. Washington, Mar. 6
Vault (2)
9.875 vs. Utah State/Boise State, Feb. 26
9.900 vs. Washington, Mar. 6
Beam (6)
9.950 vs. Minnesota, Jan. 23
9.850 vs. Arizona, Feb. 12
9.950 vs. Louisiana State, Feb. 19
9.900 vs. Florida, Feb. 22
9.925 vs. Washington, Mar. 6
9.950 vs. Oregon State, Mar. 14
Bars (4)
9.900 vs. Southern Utah, Feb. 5
9.850 vs. Arizona, Feb. 12
9.925 vs. Louisiana State, Feb. 19
9.950 vs. Oregon State, Mar. 14
Floor (3)
9.825 vs. Southern Utah, Feb. 5
9.900 vs. Arizona, Feb. 12
9.950 vs. Washington, Mar. 6
Denise Jones (5)
All-Around (1)
39.450 vs. Louisiana State, Feb. 19
Vault (2)
9.750 vs. Minnesota, Jan. 23
9.775 vs. Brigham Young, Jan. 29
Bars (1)
9.925 vs. Louisiana State, Feb. 19
Beam (1)
9.800 vs. Southern Utah, Feb. 5
All-Around (1)
38.925 vs. Arizona, Feb. 12
Vault (2)
9.900 vs. Louisiana State, Feb. 19
9.925 vs. Florida, Feb. 22
All-Around (1)
39.10 vs. Southern Utah, Feb. 5
Bars (1)
9.875 vs. Brigham Young, Jan. 29
Floor (1)
9.950 vs. Washington, Mar. 6
UTE CAREER HIGHS
Almost every Ute has scored a career high this year. Including season highs
by freshmen, here are the career highs set in 1999: Denise Jones:
All-Around 39.45 vs. LSU, Bars 9.925 vs. LSU, Beam 9.90 vs. Utah
State/Boise State, Floor (tie) 9.85 vs. Stanford and Washington. Angie
Leonard: Floor (tie) 9.95 vs. Utah State/Boise State and Washington.
Theresa Kulikowski: All-Around 39.725 vs. Utah State/Boise State, Vault
9.85 vs. Oregon State, Bars 10.0 vs. Utah State/Boise State, Beam 9.95 vs.
Utah State/Boise State, Floor 10.0 vs. Utah State/Boise State. Ashley
Kever: Vault 9.80 vs. Southern Utah. Deidra Graham: All-Around 39.10 vs.
Southern Utah, Vault 9.85 vs. Washington, Bars 9.95 vs. Utah State/Boise
State, Beam 9.775 vs. Florida, Floor 9.95 vs. Washington. Molly Northrop:
Beam 9.925 vs. Utah State/Boise State. Angelika Schatton: Vault 9.825 vs.
LSU. Lindsay Tanner: Vault 9.65, Floor 9.75. Kylee Wagner: Vault 9.80, Beam
8.65, Floor 9.90 vs. Utah State/Boise State. Theresa Wolf: All-Around
39.225 vs. LSU, Vault 9.925 vs. Florida, Bars 9.825 vs. LSU.
UNH UPDATE
9-5 to start the week ... have a quad meet on March 15 ... 5-1 at home ...
season-high 194.500 vs. Auburn in Durham on Feb. 12 ... Head Wildcat coach
Gail Goodspeed is 236-117 in her 20th year.
GREG MARSDEN SAYS
"We're making this trip so that Shannon (Bowles) has a chance to compete in
front of her friends, family and former teammates from her home area. I
think she wants to do a good job and the team needs to continue to build
towards the postseason. It's another good opportunity to be evaluated by
judges from another part of the country and hear what they have to say
about what we need to work on at this point. What we learned from the last
meet is that there are a number of other teams out there that are getting
better as the season progresses and, if we want to compete at the end, we
need to do the same."
UTAH TO HOST NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The University of Utah will host the 1999 NCAA Gymnastics Championships,
April 22-24 in the Huntsman Center. Tickets are on sale in the Huntsman
Center ticket office, or can be ordered by calling 801-581-UTIX. Utah has
hosted seven national gymnastics championshipsmost recently in 1994 (won
by the Utes).
QUALIFYING TO NATIONALS
The qualification procedures into the NCAA Championships, April 22-24 in
Salt Lake City, have changed. There will be six regional competitions
preceding nationals, with six teams qualifying into each based on their
regional qualifying scores (RQS). The RQS is based on a team's six best
regular season scores, of which two must be home and two must be away. To
obtain the RQS, the high score and the low score are eliminated and the
remaining four scores are averaged. The top 12 teams nationally, based on
RQS, will be seeded into the six regions (two per region). The remaining
four regional slots will be filled from within the region. The top two
teams from each region, regardless of score, will qualify into the NCAA
Championships for a total of 12 teams. The region configuration has also
changed. Sites for the 1999 NCAA Regional Championships, which will be held
on April 10, are: Region 1Oregon State, Region 2Utah State, Region
3Nebraska, Region 4Louisiana State, Region 5Penn State and Region 6West
Virginia. The only way a seeded team is guaranteed to stay in its own
region is if it is hosting a region championship.
NEW TRAINING CENTER OPEN
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 Dumke Gymnastics
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. The aerobics addition to the facility is nearing
completion.