Utah Gymnasts Preparing For NCAA Regional Championships

March 28, 2002

SALT LAKE CITY -

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The No. 4 ranked Utah gymnasts have qualified for the NCAA West Region Championship in Corvallis, Ore., which will be held on Saturday, April 6 starting at 6:00 p.m. (PST) in Gill Coliseum. Utah is the top seed in the region. The six teams in the West Region and their final national rankings are: No. 4 Utah, No. 9 Oklahoma, No. 13 Oregon State, No. 24 Southern Utah, No. 36 Washington and No. 39 Boise State. The top two finishers at regionals qualify for the national championships in Tuscaloosa, Ala., April 18-20. Utah is coming off a school-record performance. The Utes' 198.425 score on March 23 is the best in the nation this year and second-best all-time (Georgia has the record, a 198.575 scored in 1998).

LIVE SCORING

Live stats for the 2002 NCAA West Regional in Corvallis, Ore., on April 6 may be obtained by going to Utah's web page (www.UtahUtes.com) and choosing the Live Stats link at the top of the page. That will send you to Oregon State's page and live scoring.

UTAH IN THE POSTSEASON

This marks the 27th regional appearance for the Utes, who have qualified for regionals and nationals every year since becoming a varsity program back in the 1975-76 season. Utah is the only team in the nation to qualify for all 20 NCAA Championships to date and hopes to add to that streak on April 6. The Utes, under Head Coach Greg Marsden, have won a record 10 national championships. Nine of those were NCAA titles. Utah has won 19 region championships, including 13 of the last 14. The Utes won the North Central Region title last year and went on to place fifth at the 2002 NCAA Championships. Utah is 372-64-3 all-time in postseason competition.

STAR POWER

Junior Theresa Kulikowski is already a three-time NCAA champion. As a freshman in 1999, Kulikowski won the all-around and balance beam titles and finished second on vault and floor. After missing most of the 2000 season with a knee injury, Kulikowski returned as a sophomore in 2001 and "defended" her NCAA balance beam championship. She also placed third on bars. Senior Deidra Graham, a six-time All-American, is the two-time North Central Region Gymnast of the Year (2000-01). Graham was Utah's top all-arounder at the last two NCAA Championships, finishing eighth last year and 10th the year before. Senior Shannon Bowles is a six-time All-American, earning All-America honors in the all-around and on floor, beam and bars. Sophomore Melissa Vituj was a three-time All-American as a rookie last year. Vituj made beam and floor finals, finishing third and ninth, respectively.

BEAM'S NUMBER ONE!

For the second straight year, Utah finished the regular season as the nation's top-ranked beam team. Utah's 49.380 RQS edged runner-up UCLA (49.305) for top honors. Also for the second straight year, Theresa Kulikowski goes into the postseason as the No. 1 ranked beam worker. Kulikowski, who has a 9.960 RQS on the beam, has won two NCAA beam championships. Senior Shannon Bowles, who tied with Kulikowski for regular season honors last year, finished the 2002 regular season in third (9.945 RQS). Bowles is a three-time balance beam All-American.

NCAA REGIONAL SITES

The region championships will be held on Sat., Apr. 6 at six sites around the country. The start time will be 6:00 p.m. local time at all sites. The sites and hosts are: West Region-Oregon State, North Central Region-Denver, South Central Region-Arizona State, Central Region-Louisiana State, Northeast Region-Penn State, Southeast Region-West Virginia.

THE ROAD TO REGIONALS

Thirty-six teams qualified into the regional championships by their regional qualifying score (RQS), which is determined as follows: Take the six best regular season scores, three of which must have come on the road, eliminate the high score and then average the remaining five scores. Each of the six regional sites contains three seeded teams. All host teams stayed at home to compete, regardless of seed.

THE RANKINGS

Utah finished No. 4 in the final national rankings, issued March 25. The rankings, which are based on regional qualifying score, follow: 1. UCLA 197.230, 2. Alabama 197.095, 3. Georgia 197.085, 4. Utah 196.920, 5. Michigan 196.830, 6. LSU 196.630, 7. Iowa State 196.605, 8. Nebraska 196.600, 9. Oklahoma 196.590, 10. Stanford 196.280, 11. Minnesota 196.210, 12. Arizona 196.020, 13. Oregon State 195.975, 14. Denver 195.890, 15. Florida 195.700, 16. Iowa 195.575, 17. Brigham Young 195.520, 18. Arizona State 195.435, 19. West Virginia 195.415, 20. Kentucky 195.280, 21. Michigan State 195.265, 22. North Carolina 195.235, 23. Missouri 195.165, 24. Southern Utah 195.155, 25. Central Michigan 195.090.

REGION HOPPING

Utah, the two-time defending North Central region champion, will compete in the West Region for the second time in four years. The last time Utah was placed in the West Region, the meet was also held in Corvallis. The Utes finished second to UCLA at the 1999 regionals at OSU.

REGION ROTATIONS

At each regional, there is a single session of six rotations consisting of four events and two byes. A random draw to determine each team's rotation order was conducted by the NCAA office. Utah's order of competition will be: floor, vault, bye, bars, beam, bye.

ROAD TO NATIONALS

The top two teams from each region will automatically qualify for the 2002 NCAA Championships, regardless of their scores. The NCAA Championships will be hosted by the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala., from April 18-20. Once the national championships field has been determined, a random draw will place the teams into the two preliminary sessions on April 18. Half of the winning teams from regionals will draw the afternoon session and half the evening session. The same random draw process will be followed for the second-place teams from regionals. The group with Alabama will automatically be placed in the evening session.

HEAD TO HEAD

The Utes faced two of their regional foes in the regular season, winning both meets. Utah defeated Washington in Seattle on Feb. 8 (195.700-193.375) and Oregon State in Salt Lake City on Mar. 9 (197.350-195.475).

SERIES SHORTS

Utah vs. Oklahoma: Utah leads 23-1. Utes lead 16-0 in postseason competition. Utes lead 8-0 at neutral sites. Last meeting was in 1995, when Utah won 196.625-191.050 at regionals in Lincoln, Neb. OU's win came in 1989 (190.70-190.55) in Norman, Okla. Utes have won last 13.

Utah vs. Oregon State: Utah leads 46-5. Utes lead 19-1 in postseason competition. Utes lead 11-5 in Corvallis. Last OSU win was in 1999 (197.325-196.700) in Corvallis. Utes have won last 5.

Utah vs. Southern Utah: Utah leads 10-0. Utes lead 1-0 in postseason competition and 3-0 at neutral sites.

Utah vs. Washington: Utah leads 28-0-1. Utah beat UW in Seattle in February, 195.700-193.375. Tie was in 2001 in Seattle. Utes have 7-0 edge in postseason competition. Utah is 9-0 vs. UW at neutral sites.

Utah vs. Boise State: Utah leads 9-0. Utes lead 2-0 in postseason play. Utah is 6-0 vs. BSU at neutral sites.

REVIEWING THE REGION

Oklahoma: 13-4 record. High score 197.00 on March 3. Top all-arounders: Kasie Tamayo (39.675), Mariana Goncalves (39.625 high). Coach Steve Nunno is 34-15 in 2 years.

Oregon State: 10-10-1 record. High score 196.475 on March 16. Top all-arounders: Annie Campbell (39.575 high), Jerra Lopez (39.400), Tanya Ricioli (39.300). Coach Tanya Chaplin is 76-57-1 in 5 years.

Southern Utah: 7-12 record. High score 196.000 on March 13. Top all-arounders: Talayna Fortunato (39.25 high), Carly Geronimo (39.25). Coach Scott Bauman is 71-107 in 11 years.

Washington: 5-9 record. High score 196.575 on Feb. 15. Top all-arounders: Emily Pritchard (39.675 high), Carly Dockendorf (39.55), Molly Seaman (39.25). Coach Bob Levesque is 132-109-1 in 12 years.

Boise State: 8-14 record. High score 195.35 on March 11. Top all-arounders: Jamie Johns (39.425 high), Carla Chambers (39.20). Coach Sam Sandmire is 153-133-1 in 15 years.

LAST UTE COMPETITION

Utah erupted for a school-record 198.425 in an easy win over BYU (195.250) in its last regular season competition on March 23. It was the best score in the nation this year (ahead of UCLA's 198.350 scored on Mar. 3) and second-best score all-time in college women's gymnastics. Leading the way was junior Theresa Kulikowski, who won the all-around with a career-tying 39.80 after scoring 9.95s across the board. Kulio also captured vault honors and tied for first on bars with Shannon Bowles, Deidra Graham and Veronique Leclerc, and on floor exercise with Graham. Returning to the all-around lineup for the first time in six weeks was Graham, who has been limited to bars due to bulging disks in her back. She responded with a career-tying 39.725 in the all-around, good for second. Sophomore Melissa Vituj also had a career-best-a 39.625.

UTES IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS

Utah spent the last nine weeks of the regular season ranked No. 1 on the balance beam. Utah's final RQS on the beam was a 49.380. The Utes finished fourth on both bars (49.290) and floor (49.420) and sixth on vault (49.270). Theresa Kulikowski is No. 1 on beam (9.96 RQS), No. 3 on bars (9.945) and No. 7 on floor (9.935). Shannon Bowles is ranked third on beam (9.945).

UTE NOTES

Junior All-American Theresa Kulikowski finished the regular season as Utah's win leader with 25. In two and a partial (2001) seasons, Kulikowski has 92 career victories (all-around plus event wins and ties), which places her in the top three all-time at Utah ... Kulikowski won four of her five all-around competitions but did not compete in the all-around enough to have a regional qualifying score ... Two-time first-team All-America all-arounder Deidra Graham returned to the all-around after a six-week absence to score a career-tying 39.725 on March 23. For the previous five weeks, she could only compete on bars due to four bulging disks in her back ... Five different Utes have won all-around titles this year: Shannon Bowles vs. Ohio State (39.450), Washington (38.825) and Florida (39.425), Melissa Vituj vs. Arizona (39.575), Graham vs. Minnesota (39.550), Veronique Leclerc vs. LSU (39.275) and Kulikowski vs. Utah State (39.80), BYU twice (39.575 and 39.80) and Oregon State (39.725) ... Utah's other all-arounder is freshman Annabeth Eberle (39.10 high).

UTAH COACH GREG MARSDEN

Greg Marsden, the most successful coach in collegiate gymnastics history, is in his 27th year at the U. He is college gymnastics' only 700 win coach (752-115-5). In regular season competition, Marsden is 380-51-2. He has spent his entire career at Utah and has won 10 national championships, double that of any other coach. Four of those titles came in the '90s (1990, '92, '94, '95). Fifteen of his teams have placed in the top-three at the national championships, most recently in 2000 (second). Marsden is a seven-time National Coach of the Year recipient.

MARSDEN SAYS

"It should be one of the toughest regions. In two short years, (Oklahoma head coach) Steve Nunno has made Oklahoma a national contender. Last year, they qualified for nationals and this year they appear to be even better. They have been consistently good all year, both at home and on the road. They almost upset Georgia in Athens earlier this year. Oregon State has a very good team every year and they are always a much better team at home. Washington is a team that has struggled with consistency, but has talent and is certainly capable of having a good meet. Southern Utah has their best team ever. "Although we haven't been to Corvallis in a couple of years, typically we compete well there. Their equipment and facilities are good and their administrative staff always runs a good competition. We enjoy the enthusiasm of their fans and they always seem appreciative of good performances, even from the opponents. "If our last regular season meet was any indication, it appears that we may be coming together just in time for postseason, which would be ideal. Our team seems relaxed and confident and everyone seems to be hitting their stride. It's great to have Deidra (Graham) back in the lineup. While she was sore after the last meet, it appears manageable. We were able to get all of our upgrades done, so at this point, it's a matter of staying healthy and sharp."

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