Ute Gymnasts Prepare For NCAA Regional Competition

April 3, 2007

SALT LAKE CITY -

Media, fan and team information on the 2007 NCAA Gymnastics Championships, hosted by the University of Utah on April 26-28, can be found at the official Championships Website

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THE MEET

Up next for the No. 7-ranked Utah gymnasts is the NCAA West Regional Championship in Berkeley, Calif. (Haas Pavilion, 6 p.m. Pacific Time). The six teams assigned to the West Regional are: No.6 Nebraska, No. 7 Utah, No. 18 Missouri, Washington, Sacramento State and host California. Live scoring will be provided at calbears.com. There will be no TV.

AT STAKE

Utah must finish in the top two at regionals in order to advance to the NCAA Championships in Salt Lake City, April 26-28. At stake is Utah's record NCAA Championships qualifying streak: It is the only program in the nation to qualify for all 25 NCAA Championships and for the last 31 national championships including the AIAW years.

QUICK STICKS

Nicolle Ford won regional titles in the all-around (39.40) and on beam (9.90) last year at the Northeast Regional in Ann Arbor, Mich. ... Utah goes into regional competition as the No. 7 seed ... Utah's season-best score is a 196.725, scored against Washington, Florida and Brigham Young ... Utah is 7-1 at home, 4-2 on the road and 2-0 at neutral sites ... Utah won the NCAA gymnastics attendance title for the 23rd time in the last 26 seasons by averaging 11,297 fans to its six home meets. It is the fifth-highest attendance average in Utah--and NCAA--gymnastics history.

TRIPLE THREAT

Ute all-arounders Ashley Postell (10), Nicolle Ford (7) and Kristina Baskett (2) have combined for 19 All-America honors and comprise one of the best all-around trios in the nation. Postell enters regional competition ranked No. 9 in the nation with a 39.435 regional qualifying score, while Ford is 14th (39.410). 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 Ford (39.625) and Postell (39.55, twice). They have combined to win all but one of the team's individual titles this year: Postell (21), Baskett (19) and Ford (18).

SUPER SIX

Utah's six freshmen are contributing more than a third of Utah's starting routines. Against Nebraska, freshmen accounted for close to half of Utah's routines, going 11-of-11. Freshman starters include Daria Bijak on bars, beam and floor (when healthy), Annie DiLuzio on vault and floor, Sarah Shire on vault and beam, and Stephanie Neff on floor. Beth Rizzo has competed on floor seven times and Jamie Deetscreek has competed four routines total. The best scores by freshmen this year are 9.90s by Bijak (beam), Shire (vault and beam) and DiLuzio (vault and floor).

UTE RANKINGS

Ashley Postell finished the regular season ranked No. 9 in the nation in the all-around with a 39.435 regional qualifying score, while Nicolle Ford (39.410) is 14th. Utah's highest ranked individual is defending NCAA co-champion Kristina Baskett at No. 3 on bars (9.925). Ford is right behind at No. 4 on bars (9.920). Postell and Ford are tied for fifth on beam (9.905) and Baskett is tied for fifth on vault (9.930). Postell and Baskett are tied for 12th on floor (9.90). As a team, the Utes are ranked No. 3 on bars (49.310), No. 4 on vault (49.355), No. 7 on beam (49.145) and No. 11 on floor (49.160).

UTAH AT REGIONALS

This marks the 32nd-consecutive 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 has won 23 regional titles (20 of 25 NCAA regional titles) and finished second the other eight times ... Utah won six straight regional championships from 2000-05, before finishing second to Michigan in Ann Arbor last year. The Utes went on to place second at the 2006 NCAA Championships ... Utah belongs to the North Central region but this year marks the fifth time in nine years it has been sent out of region under the current format. Utah has participated in four North Central Regionals (2000, 2001, 2003, 2005), two West Regionals (1999, 2002), one South Central Regional (2004) and one Northeast Regional (2006). In West Regional competition, Utah placed second to UCLA in 1999 and placed first in 2002. Both meets were held at Oregon State.

REGIONAL ROTATION

The event rotation order at the NCAA regional championships was determined by a random draw by the NCAA office. Utah's rotation order will be: vault, bye, bars, beam, bye, floor.

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