University of Utah To Host NCAA Championships, April 26-28

April 17, 2007

SALT LAKE CITY-- NCAA Gymnastics Championships Tickets

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THE MEET

The 2007 NCAA Championships will be held in Salt Lake City, beginning on Thursday, April 26 with two qualifying sessions. Utah will compete in the evening session (starting at 7 p.m. MDT), along with Stanford, UCLA, LSU, Michigan and Denver. In the afternoon session (1 p.m. start time) are Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Nebraska, Oregon State and Oklahoma. The all-around champion will also be crowned on the first day of competition. The top three teams from each session on April 26 will advance to the Super Six on Friday, April 27. Individual event championships are scheduled for Saturday, April 28. Tickets to the NCAA Gymnastics Championships are still available and may be purchased online at Utahtickets.com, by phone (801-581-UTIX) and at the box office.

CHAMPIONSHIP BIRTHRITE

Utah has qualified for a record 26th-straight NCAA Championship and 32nd-consecutive national championship. Utah is the only program to qualify for every NCAA Championship, and owns an unprecedented nine NCAA titles and 10 total national championships (including the 1981 AIAW Championship).

LAST YEAR AT THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Utah placed second at the 2006 NCAA Championships in Corvallis, Ore. Utah's top individual finishers were Kristina Baskett,who tied for first on the uneven bars, and Ashley Postell (second in the all-around). Postell won first-team All-America honors in the all-around and on all four events, Baskett was a first-team All-American on bars and a second-teamer on vault, Nicolle Ford won first-team honors on vault and bars, and was second-team in the all-around, and Gritt Hofmann captured first-team honors on vault.

QUICK STICKS

Ashley Postell won the all-around (39.675), bars (9.95) and beam (9.95) titles to lead Utah to the NCAA West Regional championship - Utah's 21st regional title in 26 years of NCAA competition. Tying Postell for first on bars was Nicolle Ford, who also tied for second in the all-around with Kristina Baskett (39.475). Baskett tied for first on vault (9.925) ... Utah's 197.325 score at the NCAA West Regional tied for the best regional score in the nation with top-ranked Florida and was the Utes' best score this season ... Utah is 7-1 at home this year, with its only loss to Florida on Mar. 9 ... The 2007 Utes won the NCAA gymnastics attendance title for the 23rd time in the last 26 seasons by averaging 11,297 fans to their six home meets. It is the fifth-highest attendance average in Utah--and NCAA--gymnastics history.

POTTY TIME

Utah's 10-time All-America junior Ashley "Potty" Postell has never lost in head-to-head all-around competition at the NCAA Championships. Postell took first place in the afternoon session in both 2005 and 2006. Once the evening scores were factored in, she finished third as a freshman and second last year.

ALL-AMERICAN GIRLS

Utah boasts one of the top all-around trios in the nation. Combining for 19 All-America honors are Ashley Postell (10), Nicolle Ford (7) and Kristina Baskett (2). Postell, the 2006 NCAA all-around runner-up (third place in 2005), is coming off a season-high 39.675 winning tally at the NCAA West Regional. All three can be found among Utah's all-time top 10 all-around scorers. Postell's career-best 39.75 is tied for the fifth-best all-around score, while Baskett's career-best 39.70 is tied for eighth and Ford's 39.65 is tied for 10th. Baskett has the best all-around mark by a Ute this year (39.70), followed by Postell (39.675) and Ford (39.625). They have combined to win 62 of 63 individual titles by Utah in 2007, with this breakdown: Postell (23), Baskett (20) and Ford (19).

SUPPORTING CAST

Sophomore Nina Kim starts on vault, bars and beam, and junior Jessica Duke is a three-year starter on bars. Kim has scored a 9.85 on the beam - her season best - in the last four meets. Six freshmen are contributing more than a third of Utah's starting routines. Three freshmen have taken turns completing the floor lineup, with the early nod for nationals going to Beth Rizzo. She's competing against classmates Stephanie Neff and Daria Bijak for the position, although a sore knee will likely keep Bijak off the mat. Full-time freshman starters include Bijak on bars and beam, Annie DiLuzio on vault and floor, and Sarah Shire on vault and beam. The top alternate on vault, bars and beam is freshman Jamie Deetscreek. The best scores by freshmen this year are 9.90s by Bijak (beam), Shire (vault and beam) and DiLuzio (vault, three times, and floor).

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