Completed Event: Gymnastics versus NCAA Championships on April 16, 2026 ,
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Gymnastics
vs NCAA Championships
The University of Utah Athletics
Bowles, Kulikowski both grab bronze medals at NCAA Championships.
4/20/2002 12:00 AM | Gymnastics
April 20, 2002
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -
A tiny wobble by two-time NCAA beam champion Theresa Kulikowski meant that there would be no championship titles by the Utes at the 2002 NCAA Championships, but she and Shannon Bowles made sure they brought home some hardware. The duo, who fueled Utah's fourth-place finish in the team finals, as well as a first-place finish in the Super Six qualifying session, each won a bronze medal in the individual event finals.
Kulio, slightly off all night after being nearly perfect over the two days of team competition, placed third on beam with a 9.90. Bowles achieved her best finish ever at an NCAA Championships, placing third on floor with a 9.925 in her final meet. Kulikowski finished fifth on bars and 11th on floor, Bowles was seventh on beam and Melissa Vituj placed 14th on floor.
The first two events performed were vault and beam. Kulikowski, looking to defend her 1999 and 2001 beam championships, scored a 9.90 and was in second place until the final competitor. Bowles, who ran into "equipment" problems on the beam en route to a 9.825 score, became the only four-time first-team balance beam All-American in Utah history. By failing to capture first, Kulio and Bowles saw their championship "win" streak snapped. The pair tied for first place on the beam both nights of team competition with 9.950s. That and their regular season performances had many at the championships acknowledging them as the best beam duo in NCAA history to compete on the same team.
Kulikowski lost her chance to three-peat as the NCAA balance beam champion when she tilted slightly to the left after her front aerial. But for that small error, she would have certainly taken home another beam crown. Michigan's Elise Ray won the event with a 9.925 and Alabama's Jeana Rice was second with a 9.913 score despite a large hop on her dismount. Kulikowski tied for third with Kristin Sterner of Alabama with 9.90s.
Competing from the second position on the balance beam, Bowles threw caution to the wind and upgraded the difficulty of her routine. With no team implications, she gunned for the title on her first tumbling series, which usually features a back handspring, layout, back handspring. This time, she attempted a back handspring, layout, layout. While her new elements drew gasps from the crowd, few in the crowd knew how miraculous it was that she even stayed on. Bowles, who wears beam shoes because of a painful foot condition, caught one foot in the heel of her other shoe on her first series. She somehow found a way to land the new series, though she wobbled slightly. She competed the rest of the routine with one shoe half off. She got stronger despite the accessory problem and even threw in a gorgeous pike jump with a full turn for good measure.
Kulikowski was the first of the three Utes to compete on the floor exercise and scored a 9.863 to place 11th. Ute coach Greg Marsden explained that she "came up a little bit short on both tumbling passes." Bowles, on the other hand, hit her tumbling passes and everything else in a routine that epitomized her incredible career. The nine-time All-American tied for third on the floor with a 9.925. Vituj, the final competitor of the night, bounced out of her triple turn and finished with a 9.825, good for just 14th in an amazing floor field. UCLA's Jamie Dantzscher, the meet's only two-event winner, tied for first with LSU's Nikki Arnstad (9.95).
Vault, the only event where Utah did not qualify a competitor, was won by Dantzscher with a 9.9565. Andree Pickens of Alabama took bars with a 9.925.
Gymnastics Media Availability | Pre-NCAA Championships
Wednesday, April 15
Utah: 197.500 | Ala.: 197.225 | OSU: 196.375 | DU: 195.950 | Gymnastics Post-Meet Press Conference
Saturday, April 04
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