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, March 10
Salt Lake City
7:00 PM
University of Utah
196.575
vs
195.150
Oregon State
Tired Ute Gymnasts Dig Deep For Win Over OSU
3/10/2006 12:00 AM | Gymnastics
March 10, 2006
SALT LAKE CITY -
An exhausted and battered University of Utah gymnastics team dug deep and came up with a 196.575-195.150 victory over Oregon State in its second meet in five days. Even if the Utes weren't drained from an emotional meet against Georgia on Monday, mid-term exams would have taken their toll.
Junior Nicolle Ford, who said after the meet she'd slept just three hours a night since Tuesday because of exams, and an ill Ashley Postell, characterized a gutty Ute performance. Ford won the all-around with a 39.45 and tied for first on bars--her sixth win on that event this year--with a 9.85.
Just getting on the bars was hard for the Utes, who saw sophomore teammate Katie Kivisto dislocate her elbow during pre-meet warm-ups. Kivisto spent the meet at the emergency room and her status for the rest of the season is grim. In her place, senior Gabriella Onodi competed for the first time on bars for the first time of her career and scored a 9.45. Bars was also the event where Postell (9.75) determined that she was too sick to make it through a floor routine. But what she did on beam played a big role in a strong Utah finish.
Utah led by less than four tenths of a point heading into the beam and just about everyone seemed to be pressing to get up steam, even the crowd of 10,825. But both the team and the crowd cranked it up in the second half. Kristen Riffanacht (9.75) got Utah off to a nice start on the beam before a fall from freshman Kristina Baskett (who won three events). Nina Kim, who placed second in the all-around to Ford with a 39.175, got Utah back on track with a 9.825. Then Gritt Hofmann, Ford and Postell all but sealed the win with matching 9.875s.
Riffanacht filled in for Postell on the floor and her performance had to make her ailing teammate feel better. Riffanacht's 9.825 started off a surprisingly energetic floor set for the Utes. Best among them was Baskett, who won the event with a 9.925.
Had Baskett stayed on the beam, she might have won the all-around since she won or tied for three of four events. Along with her floor title, she won vault (9.875) and tied for first on bars with Ford (9.85).
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