No. 3 Ute Gymnasts Host National Powers On Friday

Feb. 28, 2005

SALT LAKE CITY -

Complete Release in PDF Format
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Below are a few notes on this Friday's Utah gymnastics meet. For the complete release, please choose the accompanying PDF document.

QUICKLY

Half the field from the 2004 NCAA Championships Super Six will compete in the Huntsman Center this Friday, when the No. 3 ranked Utah gymnastics team plays host to No. 6 Florida, Stanford and California, starting at 7 p.m. Stanford tied for third at last year's NCAA Championships, while Florida finished fifth and Utah sixth. Two-for-one tickets to the RC Willey Supermeet are available at all RC Willey locations. Senior citizens will be admitted for $2. Tickets to the meet are also available at the Huntsman Center box office by calling 801-581-UTIX and at this site (choose tickets). The Utes are 3-0 at home with wins over UCLA, Michigan and Brigham Young. Utah is averaging 11,691 fans to its first three home meets of 2005, including a season-high 14,100 vs. BYU.

UTES ARE BEST ALL-AROUND

Utah is the only team in the nation with three all-arounders ranked in the top 10 this week. In third is freshman Ashley Postell (39.42 regional qualifying score), Annabeth Eberle (39.32) is seventh and Nicolle Ford (39.31) is eighth. Utah has a fourth gymnast on the verge of a top 10 ranking: Rachel Tidd needs one more all-around score to qualify for an RQS.

NATIONALLY RANKED UTES

For the complete top 25 team rankings, please see page 3 of the PDF release. In addition to its three top-10 all-arounders, Utah has several individual event rankings. Rachel Tidd (9.91 RQS) is tied for No. 2 on the uneven bars, Nicolle Ford (9.85) is No. 14 and Annabeth Eberle (9.845) is tied for No. 17. On the balance beam, Ashley Postell (9.875) is tied for No. 7 and Ford (9.875) is No. 9. On the floor exercise, Postell (9.89) is No. 11 and Eberle (9.885) is tied for No. 14. On the vault, Postell (9.88) is tied for No. 16 and Eberle (9.875) is tied for No. 18. Utah's best team ranking is on bars (No. 2, 49.185 RQS). The Utes are No. 3 on beam (49.10) and No. 6 on both floor (49.215) and vault (49.155).

LAST WEEK

Utah scratched back from a half point one-event deficit in Athens, Ga., last Friday, but came up just short against Georgia, 197.275-197.150. The Utes hit 23-of-24 routines and--outside of bars, where they had their only fall of the night--were at their best. Annabeth Eberle won the all-around with a 39.575, Nicolle Ford and Rachel Tidd tied for second (39.425) and Ashley Postell was close behind with a 39.40. The Utes narrowed the gap to one tenth of a point going into the final event, where they proceeded to log a season-high 49.55 for an amazing beam set. Eberle and Postell tied for first on the event with a 9.95. It wasn't enough, however, after Georgia received a quartet of 9.925 or better scores on the floor. Tidd was Utah's other winner--tying for first on the bars with a 9.925.

UTE NOTES

Florida is the fifth top eight team Utah has faced this season. The Utes are 2-2 against those teams, beating No. 4 UCLA and No. 5 Michigan (current rankings) and losing to No. 1 Nebraska and No. 8 Georgia ... Senior Gritt Hofmann returned to the floor lineup at Georgia last Friday after missing one meet with a wrist injury. She remains questionable on both vault and beam for this week ... Either Kristen Riffanacht or freshman Jessica Duke could move into the bar lineup this week in place of Dominique D'Oliveria ... Utah's 197.675 score against UCLA on Jan. 7 remains the highest score in the nation this season. Utah also has the best season average score (196.481) ... Freshman Ashley Postell is Utah's win leader with 14. Other Ute victors: Nicolle Ford (9), Rachel Tidd (9), Annabeth Eberle (9) and Hofmann (2) ... Four Utes have gone without a fall so far this season: Postell (29-29), Tidd (24-24), Duke (5-5) and Natalie Nicoloff (3-3).

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