Completed Event: Gymnastics versus NCAA Championship Final on April 19, 2025 , , 4th of 4 (197.2375)
Final Score
Gymnastics
4th of 4 (197.2375)
vs NCAA Championship Final
Friday, January 28
Baton Rouge, La.
7:00 PM CT
University of Utah
194
at
195.125
LSU
Utes Lose Kulikowski, Meet At LSU
1/29/2000 12:00 AM | Gymnastics
Jan. 29, 2000
BATON ROUGE, La. -
The top-ranked Utah gymnastics team couldn't hold on to a three-event lead in a 195.125-194.800 loss at No. 6 LSU on Jan. 28, but the Utes held up as well as could be expected after losing Theresa Kulikowski for the season in the second event of the night. Kulikowski, the defending NCAA all-around and balance beam champion, who entered the meet ranked No. 1 in the nation in the all-around and on bars, tore her ACL after landing her first vault and had to be carried from the floor.
Kulikowski, the best college gymnast in the nation (she was also the NCAA runner-up on vault and floor as a freshman in 1999), is Utah's second major casualty of the season to injury. All-America all-arounder Shannon Bowles will likely redshirt after fracturing a vertebrae in the preseason. Bowles was also injured on the vault. Utah's roster has dwindled to ten as freshman Erin Prewitt will redshirt with an ankle injury.
Kulikowski crumpled to the floor after landing her first vault, a 9.650. The injury was to her left knee. She had ACL surgery on her right knee before coming to Utah. She won her only other event of the evening, tying for first on bars with a 9.925.It was her seventh individual event title of the year in 10 routines.
The injury shook up a Ute team that was flying high after one event. Fueled by Kulio's 9.925 on bars, Utah opened a 49.275-48.750 lead after the first rotation, with its last four competitors scoring a 9.850 or better. Kulikowski was Utah's first competitor on the next event and, after the injury, her stunned teammates huddled at the end of the vault runway before putting forth a 48.675. Combined with LSU's 49.200 on bars the score was knotted at 97.950 midway through the meet.
The reality of Kulikowski's injury then seemed to sink in for the Utes, although they managed to regain the lead after three events, 146.325-145.900, despite two falls on floor, since the Tigers countered with two falls of their own on beam. Ashley Kever saved an otherwise bad night on floor, scoring a 9.875, her best score this year, and one that held up as the winning routine.
Utah moved on to beam, where through four competitors, it appeared as though the shorthanded Utes might win the meet despite a series of 9.85 scores by LSU on the floor. Kylee Wagner (9.75), Angelika Schatton (9.825), Deidra Graham (9.825) and Theresa Wolf (9.80) set the table for a photo finish, but Denise Jones and Kever both fell, allowing LSU to surge ahead.
Graham was one of Utah's few highlights in a bleak night. She returned to the all-around lineup after a one-meet break and finished second with a career-best 39.200.
"It was a very difficult night," said Ute coach Greg Marsden."Obviously the loss of Theresa (Kulikowski) was devastating. We feel sorry for ourselves as a team now and we will certainly feel sorry for Theresa for much longer. But we have to pull things together on Monday and prepare for the rest of the season. We still have a very fine team, but some young people are going to have to step up for us."
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