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, February 4
Salt Lake City (Spartan Chrysler-Eagle Showdown)
7:00 PM MT
University of Utah
196.30
vs
195
BYU
Whew! Ute Gymnasts Come From Behind To Beat BYU
2/7/2000 12:00 AM | Gymnastics
Feb. 7, 2000
Feb. 4, 2000
SALT LAKE CITY -
If anyone expected the University of Utah gymnastics team to roll over after losing All-America gymnasts Theresa Kulikowski and Shannon Bowles for the season to injury, guess again. Trailing a fired up Brigham Young team by two tenths of a point entering the final event, the Utes unleashed a season-best 49.525 on floor to steal a 196.300-195.800 win before 12,201 fans.
Leading the gutsy effort were Deidra Graham and Denise Jones. Graham, billed as Utah's answer to the loss of defending NCAA all-around champion Kulikowski, did a great Kulio impression. She kicked her career-best 39.55 winning all-around score off with a personal best 9.875 on vault, also good for first. From there, she posted yet another 9.875 on bars to take second to teammate Jenny Schmidt and her career-best 9.90. But it got better. Graham won beam with a career-best 9.90 before wrapping up the night with another 9.90 on floor.
Jones also had a career night, tying her all-around best with a 39.45 to finish second. She shared the vault title with Graham (9.875) and won floor with a career best 9.95. Just as important, she got a monkey off her back. For the second week in a row, the meet came down to Utah's final two competitors: Jones and Ashley Kever. Last week, both fell off beam, erasing Utah's lead. This time, they not only stayed upright on beam and floor, they performed the best floor routines of their careers. Like Jones, Kever turned in a career-best performance and her 9.925 score was good for second.
The closest regular season meet in the Huntsman Center in 20 years, where Utah has now won a national-record 154 straight competitions, came about in a strange way. After a season-best 49.075 on vault, the Utes, ranked No. 1 in the nation on bars, opened their bar set with two uncharacteristic falls. Their season-low 48.65 opened the door for BYU, who trailed by just .075 after two events. Utah, minus defending NCAA beam champion Kulikowski and fourth-place finisher Bowles, went to beam with that tenuous lead. Though every Ute hit her routine and the last four went 9.80 or better, the Cougars were collecting gigantic scores on the floor mat.
So, it came down to floor, where five Utes scored a 9.85 or better, the last three owning the added pressure of knowing that Leah Sabo fell on her last pass and they had to hit. They responded with a 9.95, 9.90 and 9.925 to snatch the win from BYU.
Two Utes competed for the first time to count, with mixed results. Freshman Kim Allan hit her vault (9.70), but fell on bars. Sabo, inserted in place of Angelika Schatton, who could only do two events due to a sprained ankle, fell on floor.
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