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
Thursday, April 13
Boise, Idaho (NCAA Championships)
1:00 PM MT
University of Utah
196
at
196.775
Team Prelims/All-Around Finals
Ute Gymnasts Blast Their Way into the NCAA Finals
4/13/2000 12:00 AM | Gymnastics
The little team that could is going to the NCAA Super Six. Utah, which stared down setback after setback all season long, finished second in its session at the NCAA Championships to advance to the team finals on Friday. The Utes scored a 196.125, to place behind Georgia (196.775). Alabama was third with a 196.075. Those three all advance to the Super Six. Rounding out the field at the afternoon session in Boise, Idaho, were Louisiana State (194.950), Oregon State (194.750) and Brigham Young (194.500). Utah, Georgia and Alabama will join the top three finishers from Thursday's evening session (UCLA, Nebraska and Michigan) in the Super Six.
Once again, Utah's all-arounders came up big. Denise Jones and Deidra Graham both made the All-America first team and Angelika Schatton's 39.075 was tied for seventh in session one. Jones tied for first (39.400) and Graham was fourth (39.275). Their scores are especially critical given that Utah is down to nine healthy athletes and, of those, six combined to perform all but two routines.
The Utes came out in spectacular fashion after taking a first-rotation bye. They cranked out a 49.225 on floor to kick things off, a score that held up as the best of the day until the final rotation when Georgia got a 49.350. All six Utes stuck their floor routines and Denise Jones tied for first with a 9.90. Graham's 9.875 was tied for fifth and Ashley Kever's 9.825 was tied for seventh.
Off the Utes then went to vault, their weakest overall event, but a good one this night. Led by Jones' 9.850, Utah rang up a respectable 48.925, which put the Utes in first place at the midway point.
It took a second bye to slow the Ute train. The Utes came out a bit flat and struggled in spots on their best event, the uneven bars. Freshman Kim Allan opened well with a 9.775, but a fall by Theresa Wolf showed Utah wasn't quite as sharp as it had been before the bye. Schatton made sure Utah wasn't derailed by scoring a 9.725 and then Jenny Schmidt uncorked a beautiful 9.85 routine. Jones' routine looked equally as good, although she was awarded a slightly lower 9.825. Graham fought the bars in a 9.750 effort to close the set. The unusually low 48.925 score, Utah's first sub-49.00 on bars in seven meets, caused Utah to slip behind Georgia in the standings. However, the Utes were firmly in second going into their last event.
For the second time in as many meets, Utah's fortunes came down to the balance beam. And what a finale it was! Three Utes would place in the top three (including ties) and their 49.050 was the best of the day. It didn't come without a scare though. Allan again started the set in impressive fashion, scoring a 9.775, but her effort was again followed by a fall by Wolf. This time it was Jones who got Utah back on track with a 9.825. Schatton equaled that score and Graham stepped up with a 9.850, which tied her for first. Kever, though a little off, still turned in a 9.750 and the Utes were headed for the Super Six.
After Utah's stunning show on beam, February 18 seemed forever ago. That was when a discouraged, injury depleted Ute team finished dead last at a four-team invitational at Arizona State, falling three times on beam. Few observers that day would expect a team minus its two big guns, defending NCAA all-around champion Theresa Kulikowski and All-American Shannon Bowles, to take the NCAA Championships by storm just two months later. Kulikowski (torn ACL) and Bowles (broken vertebrae), as well as three-event star Kylee Wagner (mono) and star freshman recruit Erin Prewitt (shoulder and ankle surgery) watched their teammates do what seemed impossible so recently.
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