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
Ute Gymnasts Shine At NCAA Individual Event Championships
4/15/2000 12:00 AM | Gymnastics
April 15, 2000
BOISE, Idaho -
It was their last gymnastics competition ever and Ute seniors Denise Jones, Angelika Schatton and Jenny Schmidt put on show during the individual event portion of the 2000 NCAA Championships, April 15 in Boise, Idaho. The trio symbolized how far the Utes have come this year. Once laboring in the shadows of higher profile teammates, they leaped out to grab center stage as seniors and led an unheralded Utah team to a second-place national finish.
Jones, Utah's only two-event performer on Saturday, finished second in the nation on the floor exercise (9.913) and was fourth on beam (9.85). Schmidt placed fifth in her only trip to the NCAA event finals, scoring a 9.875. And classmate Schatton barely missed a trip to the awards podium, scoring a 9.800 on the beam and finishing seventh.
Jones' runner-up finish on floor was truly amazing, considering she drew the No. 2 position. Her near flawless routine earned a 9.9125 that would stand as the best of the bunch through six competitors before Georgia's Suzanne Sears nailed a 9.950 as the second to last competitor.
Nerves that were absent the first two days of the NCAA Championships came out during the beam competition, though they had no effect on Jones and Schatton. Three of the first four competitors fell off the beam, including Utah's Deidra Graham, who finished 11th with a 9.0750. Graham qualified for the competition by placing first in the afternoon session on April 13 with a 9.85. The sophomore contributed a 9.80 in Utah's runner-up team finish on April 14.
Schatton had no problems on the beam, scoring a 9.800 in the final routine of her career. Her seventh place finish capped a marvelous senior year for Schatton, who didn't make the lineup on a single event at the 1999 NCAA Championships, only to become an All-America all-arounder in her senior season.
Jones followed Schatton's lead on beam and her 9.850 would place her fourth. Once a somewhat reluctant beam worker, Jones blossomed this year and she was at her best when it counted the most. Jones' three-day beam scores at the NCAA Championships: 9.825, 9.825 and 9.850. But floor was where Jones stamped her name as one of the best in a line of great Ute gymnasts. Incredibly, she averaged over a 9.90 over the three day championship, scoring a 9.90 the first two days and increasing that to 9.913 on day three.
Schmidt, like Schatton, didn't even make the Ute lineup last year. Victim to two knee surgeries during her Ute career, she persevered to make the All-America first team and a trip to the awards stand.
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