April 6, 2004
        SALT LAKE CITY -
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        Some brief notes for Utah's upcoming competition at the NCAA Championships follows. For        the complete release, please choose the pdf document.
        QUICKLY
        The 10-time national champion Utah gymnasts are headed to a record 29th straight national        championship (23rd NCAA Championship) after winning the NCAA South Central Region        Championship on April 3 in Tucson, Ariz. ... The 2004 NCAA Championships will be held in        Los Angeles, April 15-17 ... Utah posted the highest score of the six regional        championships-a 197.625 ... The 12 teams that have qualified for the 2004 NCAA        Championships are Utah, UCLA, Georgia, Louisiana State, Oklahoma, Stanford, Florida,        Alabama, Nebraska, Michigan, Arizona State and Iowa ... The Utes will open NCAA competition        on Thursday, April 15 at 7:00 p.m. (PDT) in Pauley Pavilion on the UCLA campus.         
SUPER SESSION
        The evening session of the NCAA qualifying night on April 15 will feature teams that have        won 17 of the 22 NCAA Championships to date. Teams in the session include nine-time NCAA        champion Utah (10 total national titles) and four-time champions Alabama and UCLA, along        with Arizona State (a four-time NCAA runner-up), LSU and Michigan. The afternoon session        has just one NCAA champ-Georgia, which has won five titles. Joining the Bulldogs are        Stanford, Oklahoma, Florida, Nebraska and Iowa. The NCAA used a blind draw to make the        pairings. The top three teams from each session will move on to the Super Six team        championship on April 16.         
WORTH RECORDING
        Utah head coach Greg Marsden needs two victories to become college gymnastics' first        800-win coach. Marsden is 798-131-5 in 29 seasons at Utah ... Utah went 13-1 in the regular        season with its only loss coming to Michigan on Feb. 14 ... The 2004 Utes own five of the        10 best team scores in school history: 198.600 vs. BYU on Mar. 19 (first), 198.050 vs. Utah        State on Feb. 27 (third), 197.950 at Washington on Mar. 5 (fourth), 197.675 vs. OSU on Mar.        12 (ninth) and 197.650 vs. Iowa on Feb. 6 (10th) ... Utah was ranked in the top four for 10        of 12 weeks this season, including two weeks at No. 1 after beating top-ranked UCLA in Los        Angeles ... Utah placed second in the 2004 national attendance standings. The Utes, who        drew the largest crowd to watch a gymnastics meet in the nation this year on Mar. 19        (13,325 vs. BYU), averaged 10,125 fans to their six home meets to finish just behind        Alabama (10,274).         
LIVE SCORING ON THE 'NET
        Live scoring from the NCAA Championships will be available on the Internet. To follow the        meet in progress, log on to        http://uclabruins.ocsn.com/sports/w-gym/spec-rel/2004-ncaa-champ-central.html.         
UTE NOTES
        Utah has two North Central Region Gymnasts of the Year on its roster: Annabeth Eberle was        voted the top region gymnast by the region coaches this year and Melissa Vituj took the top        honor in 2003 ... Three Utes enter the NCAA Championships without a fall in competition        this season: Kristen Riffanacht (29-29), Natalie Nicoloff (13-13) and Gritt Hofmann (9-9)        ... Eberle and Vituj have 20 and 19 victories, respectively ... Four Utes have received        perfect 10.0s with Eberle and Vituj leading the way with three 10.0s apiece. All three by        Eberle came on vault-two on the road. Vituj earned two 10.0s on floor and one on beam.        Veronique Leclerc scored a 10.0 on floor and Rachel Tidd had a 10.0 on vault ... Vituj is        the only Ute to go all-around in every meet this season ... Likely all-arounders at        regionals are Vituj (39.875 best), Eberle (39.775) and Tidd (39.675) or Nicolle Ford        (39.625).