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Ashley Postell won the floor exercise with a 9.90.
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Feb. 2, 2007
SALT LAKE CITY -
The boisterous crowd of 14,044 was the only "team" on top of its game in the Huntsman Center Friday night, but the hometown Utes had enough juice to deliver a runaway victory in their four-way competition. Utah, which shined on every event but the balance beam, scored a 196.150 to beat Arkansas (193.625), Brigham Young (192.600) and Southern Utah (190.65).
Prior to the meet, Utah head coach Greg Marsden promised lots of upgraded difficulty, but warned that falls could come as a result. He was right on both counts, although nowhere but on the beam did falls play a big role.
"I thought we were conservative on the balance beam for some reason," suggested Marsden as a reason behind the falls. "But we came back big on the floor exercise. We weren't conservative there at all."
A prime example was Nicolle Ford, who won the all-around with a season-best 39.60 - not far off her career best of 39.65. Ford won, or tied for first, on vault, bars and beam, and then rode her new upgraded floor routine to a tie for second. Ford nailed a double layout on her first pass, making her the first Ute in history to execute a double layout in a competition.
Winning the floor exercise, also with an upgraded routine, was Ashley Postell (9.90). It made for a nice comeback for the All-America junior, who fell on both her bars and beam routines. Known as one of the steadiest competitors in the nation, Postell's miscues marked the first time she had ever fallen twice in a single meet.
Suffering the first fall of her young career was freshman Annie DiLuzio, who had hit 10 straight routines before dropping off the beam. Utah's other beam victim was sophomore all-arounder Kristina Baskett. Prior to running into problems on the beam, Utah had powered to a 98.725 halftime score that included a season-best 49.40 on the vault.
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