NCAA Regional is April 1
The No. 4 ranked Utes have earned the top seed in the NCAA Fayetteville Regional on Saturday, Apr. 1. Joining Utah in the field are No. 9 Denver, No. 16 California, No. 21 Auburn, Arkansas and Central Michigan. The meet starts at 4 p.m. CDT/3 p.m. MDT at Barnhill Arena. There is no TV, but Arkansas will provide a free live video stream. Follow the Utes on Twitter for live updates.
 
Regional Overview
All six NCAA Regional championships will be held on Apr. 1. Two teams will advance out of each regional to the 2017 NCAA Championships in St. Louis on Apr. 14-15 … Utah is attempting to qualify for a record 42nd-consecutive national championship. Utah is the only school in the country to qualify for all 35 NCAA Championships to date ... Utah has won 29 regional titles (including 26 of 35 NCAA) and finished second the other 12 years … Utah will start regional competition on bars and finish on a bye. This is the fifth-straight year that Utah has drawn bars (or the bye before bars) as its first event … The two teams making it out of the Fayetteville Regional will compete in the afternoon semifinal of the NCAA Championships on Apr. 15 against qualifiers from the Seattle and Champaign regionals.
 
In the Rankings
Utah moved up to No. 4 in the final regular season rankings after holding steady at No. 5 for five straight weeks. The Utes have been ranked in the top six all season. MyKayla Skinner is ranked No. 2 nationally in the all-around (39.680 RQS), No. 1 on floor (9.965), No. 7 on vault (9.925), No. 15 on bars (9.905) and No. 23 on beam (9.90). Baely Rowe is ranked No. 5 in the all-around (39.540), No. 13 on beam (9.915) and No. 18 on floor (9.915). See sidebar on page 2 for more on the national rankings.
 
Pac-12 Champs!
Utah won its third Pac-12 Championship in the last four years, scoring a season-high 197.925 in Stanford's Maples Pavilion to beat the closest competitor by more than five-tenths of a point. Utah has now won half of the Pac-12 championships in its first six years in the conference. MyKayla Skinner was the meet's only multi-event winner, placing first in the all-around (39.725), vault (tying teammate Tiffani Lewis with a 9.95) and floor (10.0). Baely Rowe was the all-around runner-up (39.575). Also taking silver were Lewis on floor (9.925) and Kari Lee and Missy Reinstadtler on bars (9.90).
 
Connections
The Utes have several connections to the teams in the Fayetteville Regional. Co-head coach Tom Farden was an assistant coach at Arkansas in 2010 before coming to Utah in 2011 as an assistant coach. He is in his second year as Utah's co-head coach. Former Utah All-American Corrie Lothrop (2011-15) is a graduate assistant coach at Auburn under former Ute assistant coach Jeff Graba (2006-10). Graba is in his seventh season as the Tigers' head coach. Former Ute director of gymnastics operations Cameron Linford is a first-year assistant coach at Central Michigan.
 
Quick Sticks
Utah, 17-2 overall, was 10-2 in dual meets (5-1 Pac-12). The 2017 Pac-12 champion Utes tied with UCLA for the Pac-12 regular season title (their fourth since 2012) and have now won both the Pac-12 Championship and regular season title in three seasons … Five Utes earned a total of 12 All-Pac-12 honors, led by Baely Rowe with five all-conference awards, including two first team. MyKayla Skinner was a four-time first-team All-Pac-12 selection. Earning second team honors were MaKenna Skinner (all-around and vault) and Tiffani Lewis (floor). For a complete list of Utah's 2017 awards, see page 3 … Utah averaged an NCAA gymnastics record 15,224 fans a meet at home this year to lead all NCAA women's sports teams in attendance. Utah's 2017 all-sport women's attendance title is its seventh all time and fourth in a row.
 
All-American Girls
Freshman MyKayla Skinner and senior Baely Rowe have been named regular season All-Americans by the National Association of College Gymnastics Coaches for Women (NACGC/W). Skinner earned first-team honors in the all-around and on vault and floor, and made the second team on bars. Rowe earned first-team status in the all-around and made the second team on beam. Rowe is now a four-time All-American in her career, having earned second-team status in the all-around and on beam at the 2016 NCAA Championships.
 
Winner Skinner
In her first collegiate season, 2016 USA Olympic alternate MyKayla Skinner became the most decorated Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week and Freshman of the Week of all time. The Pac-12 all-around, vault and floor champion won seven Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week honors—shattering the previous single-season record of four. In addition, her six Freshman of the Year citations tied the Pac-12 record. Skinner, who is unbeaten in the all-around against Pac-12 competitors, has won 10 of 11 all-around competitions. Her 10 all-around wins is the second-most in a season in Utah history. Skinner's 37 total wins is tied for fourth all time at Utah. See inset on page 9 for Utah's season win leaders.
 
Ute Insider
Two-time All-American and seven-time All-Pac-12 selection Baely Rowe is a finalist for the 2017 AAI Award, which honors the nation's top senior female gymnast. She is Utah's only senior … Sophomore All-American and 2016 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Sabrina Schwab (knee) and freshman Kim Tessen (ankle) suffered season-ending injuries in January. Schwab was competing in the all-around, while Tesson was a three-event starter … Ute individual event/all-around winners: Skinner (37), Rowe (8), MaKenna Merrell (6), Kari Lee (4),Tiffani Lewis (3), Missy Reinstadtler (1) … The Utes are 253-264 in hit routines (routines without a fall), including 24-24 against Washington, Oregon State and UCLA … Gymnasts who have hit every routine are Skinner (44-44), Macey Roberts (17-17), Maddy Stover (11-11), Schwab (8-8), Tessen (7-7) and Erika Muhaw (2-2).