Upcoming Event: Gymnastics versus Red Rocks Preview on December 12, 2025 at 7:00 PM
7:00 PM
Gymnastics
vs Red Rocks Preview
Saturday, March 17
Gainesville, Fla.
7:00 PM ET
University of Utah
196.750
at
196
Florida-North Carolina-George Washington
Bowles Leads Ute Gymnasts To Victory At Florida
3/17/2001 12:00 AM | Gymnastics
March 17, 2001
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -
An unnecessarily long bus trip, the absence of their best all-arounder and the 10th-ranked team in the country didn't prevent the University of Utah gymnastics team from winning a quadrangular meet, here Saturday. But Ute head coach Greg Marsden expressed displeasure with his No. 2 ranked team's 196.750-196.525 win over runner-up Florida. George Washington was third (195.000) and North Carolina fourth (192.275).
"We struggled a little on bars, but toughed it out," said Marsden. "And then we were just great on beam and floor and clawed our way to a seven-tenths (of a point) lead. Even though we ended up winning the meet, I don't feel good about it because of how we finished on the vault. We had the meet in hand and just tightened up for no reason. I am very disappointed"
Some could have found an excuse for Utah's malaise. The team, which stayed in Orlando, expected a two-hour bus trip to Gainesville. Instead, the bus driver got lost and a two-hour jaunt turned into a three and a half hour ordeal. The Utes, who arrived too late for open warmups, had to change into their leotards and get taped on the bus.
Worse yet was what happened in the pre-meet warmups. Deidra Graham, the No. 4 ranked all-arounder in the nation and Utah's victory leader with 15 this season, injured her knee. A local orthopedic surgeon diagnosed the injury as a hyper-extended knee. Graham will be re-evaluated by a team orthopedist in Salt Lake City on Monday.
Graham's absence was felt on Utah's first event, when her replacement, freshman Tacia LaBatte, fell in her first collegiate bar routine. The team rallied after the fall, closing the set with a 9.875 by Shannon Bowles and a 9.90 by Theresa Kulikowski, and staying within 0.75 of Florida (49.275-49.200). Kulikowski would finish the night as the uneven bar champion, her tenth win of the year on that event.
Utah handled the substitute issue better on its next event, with freshman Annie Medcalf turning in a beautiful routine that scored a career-best 9.875. Remarkably, it was just her second-ever beam routine as a Ute. Again Utah had a fall, this time by senior Theresa Wolf, but Kulikowski (9.95) and Bowles (9.925) propelled Utah into the lead. The Utes' 49.475 on the beam was its second best all year and gave them a 98.675-98.250 edge over Florida. Utah would take the top three places on that event, with Kulikowski winning, Bowles placing second and freshman Melissa Vituj taking third (9.90).
On the Utes went to the floor exercise, where they squandered a big lead in their last road outing at Washington. This time, Utah was sharp on the mat in expanding its lead by .725 (148.075-147.350) over the Gators.
But the Utes weren't out of the woods. A 48.675 on the vault, the Utes' worst score on the event in seven meets, opened the door for the host team. Fortunately for the Utes, Florida's second-best overall score of the year wasn't quite enough to overtake them.
Afterwards, Marsden had a few heated remarks for his team. "I don't think losing Deidra tonight was the issue at all, although we're certainly a much better team with her," said Marsden. "We had some outstanding performances, particular from Shannon Bowles, Theresa Kulikowski and Annie Medcalf, but there is no excuse for our lack of effort on the vault."
Bowles won her first all-around since 1998, scoring a season-best 39.525.
In attendance at the meet was former Ute basketball player and current Orlando Magic player Mike Doleac. Doleac had the team over to his house for a barbecue Thursday night and has invited the Utes to be his guests at the Magic game Sunday afternoon.
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