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
Friday, April 6
Salt Lake City
6:00 PM MT
University of Utah
193
at
194.075
NCAA Regionals
Ute Gymnasts Fall Into NCAA Championships
4/7/2001 12:00 AM | Gymnastics
April 7, 2001
SALT LAKE CITY -
The University of Utah gymnastics team may not have been very good, but it was good enough to qualify for a record 20th straight trip to the NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga., April 19-21. The Utes posted their lowest score of the year, their lowest score at a regional championship in 12 years, had five falls and counted three, and still managed to win the NCAA North Central Region Championship, Saturday in Salt Lake City.
Utah finished with a 194.075 to edge Denver (193.900) in a meet plagued by falls. Both Utah and Denver qualified for the NCAA Championships, for Denver, its first trip to nationals. In third place was Iowa State (193.375), followed by West Virginia (192.400), Utah State (191.200) and Air Force (190.200).
If anything could good could be said about the Utes' performance, it was that the rest of the field couldn't stay on the apparatus either. A crowd of 5,000 watched, stunned, as the Utes apparently took themselves out of contention on their second event, and then got right back in it when Iowa State caught a case of the spills. So did West Virginia and Utah State. While Denver stayed up for the most part, low valued vaults dropped the Pioneers from first place to second in the end.
Utah opened the meet on a bye, then went to the floor exercise, where lead-off performer Lindsay Tanner stumbled all the way off the floor mat. The rest of the Utes "hit", but finished with a so-so 49.150 score.
Utah would have taken that, or even a point less, on its next event. The first two Utes on the vault, Theresa Wolf and Shannon Bowles fell, each for their first time this year. After Melissa Vituj stuck her vault but received only a 9.625, Kylee Wagner fell. Deidra Graham and Veronique Leclerc finished with a 9.70 and 9.75, respectively, to bring Utah's vault score to a pitiful 47.00. The only thing that ultimately saved the Utes on their worst vaulting night since January 16, 1989 was the fact that the vault judging crew was extremely stingy with its scoring, making it nearly impossible for a team to gain ground on that event.
The Utes went into their second and final "bye" trailing Denver by 1.625 points and Iowa State by more than a point. With just two events remaining and DU and ISU clicking on their first two events, a trip to the NCAA Championships suddenly appeared very improbable for the Utes.
But no one else seemed to want this meet either. The gaping door Utah opened for Iowa State closed somewhat while the Utes were in their bye room. The Cyclones had three falls on the bars and suddenly, Utah was back in the meet. The Utes took advantage, turning in a fine bar set that received a 49.250. The meet would come down to the balance beam, where Utah was the nation's best during the regular season and where its two "ringers", Bowles and Theresa Kulikowski, had gone into regionals tied for No. 1 in the national rankings.
Utah certainly looked the part of the country's best beam team through four competitors, with Wagner starting things off with a 9.800, Vituj scoring a 9.825, Wolf a 9.800 and Deidra Graham a 9.825. All the Utes needed was a 9.300 to win the meet and the best beam workers in the nation were ahead. But in a night where nothing came easy for Utah, Kulikowski fell and Bowles followed suit. Fortunately, Bowles' 9.425 was enough to push the Utes past upstart Denver.
Outside Utah surviving a scare and making the NCAA Championships cut, there were a few bright spot for the mistake-prone Utes. Junior Deidra Graham made a sensational return to the all-around lineup after missing most of two meets with a sprained knee. Graham, whose entire left knee was encased in tape, finished second in the all-around with a 39.150. She came just 0.05 shy of defending the NCAA region all-around title she won in 2000.
Utah had two region champions: Kulikowski won the uneven bars with a 9.950 and Bowles tied for first on the floor exercise with a 9.875. Freshman Veronique Leclerc tied for second on the vault (9.750) and Graham and Vituj tied for second on the beam (9.825).
1. Utah 194.0752. Denver 193.9003. Iowa State 193.3754. West Virginia 192.4005. Utah State 191.2006. Air Force 190.200
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