Ute Gymnasts Roar Back For 197.425-196.675 Win Over Michigan.

Friday, February 23

Salt Lake City

7:00 PM MT

University of Utah

197.425

196

Michigan

Ute Gymnasts Roar Back For 197.425-196.675 Win Over Michigan.

2/23/2001 12:00 AM | Gymnastics

Feb. 23, 2001

Box Score

SALT LAKE CITY -
A few streaks were broken before the raucous gathering of 9,176 in the Jon M. Huntsman Center Friday night, but one of them wasn't The Streak. Theresa Kulikowski's 10.0 on the uneven bars shoved Utah in front for the first time of the evening and the No. 3 Utes went on to beat No. 7-and-rising Michigan 197.425-196.675. The score was the seventh highest in school history, Utah's third straight 197.00-plus score and just enough to extend its national record regular season home court win streak to 162.

The meet lived up to its billing as the most serious threat to Utah's streak since UCLA came to town last year. Michigan came out ahead, barely, of the first rotation, 49.250-49.225. And the Wolverines were poised to keep their lead in round two until Kulikowski ripped off her third 10.0 this year-her second on the uneven bars. Kulio, who has won 17 of her last 18 regular season bar competitions, including the last five, brought a nervous crowd to its feet in a noisy celebration. The din kept up for the rest of the night.

Though Kulio's 10.0 gave the Ute fans something to scream about, Utah's lead going into event number three was just .020 (98.575-98.550)-not much considering its next the always risky beam lay ahead. Not to worry. Kylee Wagner kicked things off with a 9.825, the next four Utes put up 9.80s and Kulikowski and Shannon Bowles capped a beautiful beam set with matching 9.950s. A few yards away, Michigan kept pace until its No. 5 competitor, Bridget Knaeble, fell to the mat. The "timely" fall for Utah forced the Wolverines to count a 9.650. Despite Utah's big beam (49.325) and Michigan's mistake on floor, the Utes expanded their margin only to a still-razor-thin 0.125.

Then things started cooking for Utah. Lindsay Tanner led off the floor set with a career-tying 9.90, marking her third straight 9.90 floor score since temporarily losing her spot back on February 6. Wagner and Theresa Wolf would equal Tanner's score and Deidra Graham would close the night out with an event-tying 9.950. On the beam, Michigan encountered some late meet problems, with one fall off the beam and one fall onto the beam forcing UM to count a 9.50.

So the streak held up for another day, although some individual ones fell. For the first time this season, freshman Melissa Vituj missed a routine. Vituj hit the mat as Utah's last competitor on vault, her only miss in 23 routines. Graham placed second in the all-around to 2000 U.S. Olympian Elise Ray, scoring a 39.450 to Ray's 39.600, which snapped Graham's all-around win streak at four. And freshman Veronique Leclerc popped for a nice 9.90 vault, but it wasn't good enough for first, which was won by UM's Janessa Grieco (9.950), halting Leclerc's vault win streak at five.

But nobody much cared about their individual streaks in the hardest fought Ute victory of the year. Utah improved its record to 7-1 with the win.

Women's GymnasticsUtah 197.425, Michigan 196.675
All-Around: 1. Elise Ray (Michigan) 39.600, 2. Deidra Graham (Utah) 39.450, 3. Shannon Bowles (Utah) 39.300, 4. Bridget Knaeble (Michigan) 38.950, 5. Theresa Wolf (Utah) 38.750.

Vault: 1. Janessa Grieco (Michigan) 9.950, 2. Chrissy Michaud (Michigan) 9.925, 3. Veronique Leclerc (Utah) 9.900, 4. Kylee Wagner (Utah) 9.875, 5. (Tie) Deidra Graham (Utah) 9.850 and Karina Senior (9.850).

Bars: 1. Theresa Kulikowski (Utah) 10.0, 2. Elise Ray (Michigan) 9.925, 3. Bridget Knaeble (Michigan) 9.900, 4. (Tie) Shannon Bowles (Utah), Deidra Graham (Utah) and Veronique Leclerc (Utah) 9.850.

Beam: 1. (Tie) Shannon Bowles (Utah), Theresa Kulikowski (Utah) 9.950 and Elise Ray (Michigan) 9.950, 4. (Tie) Shannon MacKenzie (Michigan) and Bridget Knaeble (Michigan) 9.850, 6. Kylee Wagner (Utah) 9.800.

Floor: 1. (Tie) Deidra Graham (Utah) and Elise Ray (Michigan) 9.950, 3. Calli Ryals (Michigan) 9.925, 4. (Tie) Lindsay Tanner (Utah), Kylee Wagner (Utah), Theresa Wolf (Utah) and Janessa Grieco (Michigan) 9.900.

Attendance: 9,176

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Next Event

Washington

L, 196-196.725

Mar 4 (Sun)

2:00 PM PT

Recap Stats History

Full Schedule

Four Red Rocks Earn WCGA Regular Season All-America Honors

Monday, March 30

Red Rocks Tabbed for Corvallis Regional

Monday, March 23

No. 12 Utah Gymnastics Claims Big 12 Championship

Saturday, March 21

Avery Neff, Ana Padurariu Pegged for Big 12 End of Year Awards

Saturday, March 21

Utah: 197.400 vs. UCLA: 197.850 | Gymnastics Post-Meet Press Conference

Sunday, March 15

Utah: 197.650 vs. BYU: 196.550, West Virginia: 195.300 | Gymnastics Post-Meet Press Conference

Sunday, March 08

Utah: 197.200 vs. Denver: 196.100 | Gymnastics Post-Meet Press Conference

Monday, March 02

Hear It From Harlan with Utah Gymnastics star Avery Neff

Thursday, February 26

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Ute Gymnasts Roar Back For 197.425-196.675 Win Over Michigan.

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Upcoming Event: Gymnastics versus NCAA Regionals on April 3, 2026 at 2:00 P.M.

Upcoming Event: Gymnastics versus NCAA Regionals on April 5, 2026 at 6:00 PM

Completed Event: Gymnastics versus Big 12 Championship on March 21, 2026 , , 1st of 6 (197.675)

Completed Event: Gymnastics at #4 UCLA on March 14, 2026 , Loss , 197.400, to, 197.850

Completed Event: Gymnastics versus BYU on March 7, 2026 , Win , 197.650, to, 196.550

Completed Event: Gymnastics versus West Virginia on March 7, 2026 , Win , 197.650, to, 195.300

Completed Event: Gymnastics at #16 Denver on March 1, 2026 , Win , 197.200, to, 196.100

Completed Event: Gymnastics versus Southern Utah on February 20, 2026 , Win , 197.425, to, 195.825

Completed Event: Gymnastics versus BYU on February 13, 2026 , Win , 198.025, to, 196.025

Completed Event: Gymnastics at #18 Arizona on February 6, 2026 , Win , 197.125, to, 195.975

Completed Event: Gymnastics versus #25 Arizona State on January 30, 2026 , Win , 196.450, to, 194.925

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Ute Gymnasts Roar Back For 197.425-196.675 Win Over Michigan.

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