No. 1 Ranked Utah Gymnasts Compete At No. 13 Oregon State Friday. - The Official Athletic Site of the University of Utah

QUICKLY

No. 1 ranked Utah (2-0) will be tested this Friday by No. 13 Oregon State (3-1) in Corvallis, Ore. ... The meet begins at 7 p.m. PST (8 p.m. MST) and live statistics and commentary will be available on UtahUtes.com ... Utah is ranked No. 1 in the nation for the second straight week ... Utah and OSU already have one common opponent this season in UCLA: Utah beat the Bruins in Salt Lake City on Jan. 7 (197.675-197.300), while the Beavers suffered a rare home loss last Friday in a tight-scoring 194.50-192.875 affair ... Utah head coach Greg Marsden, gymnastics' only 800-win coach (803-138-5), earned his 400th regular season victory last Friday. Marsden is 400-57-2 in regular season competition.

NATIONAL RANKINGS

Utah held on to the top spot for the second straight week. This is the last week that the rankings will be based on high score. Next week they will switch to total season average. The Jan. 17 rankings follow: 1. Utah 197.675, 2. UCLA 197.300, 3. Michigan 196.025, 4. Alabama 195.975, 5. Oklahoma 195.900, 6. Georgia 195.800, 7. Arizona State 195.700, 8. LSU 195.625, 9. Brigham Young 195.575, 10. Florida 195.550, 11. Michigan State 195.475, 12. Auburn 195.325, 13. Oregon State 195.200, 14. Denver 195.100, 15. (tie) Iowa State, Arkansas 194.925, 17. Kentucky 194.850, 18. Washington 194.625, 19. Nebraska 194.200, 20. Penn State 194.125, 21. Central Michigan 194.050, 22. Maryland 193.975, 23. Minnesota 193.925, 24. Utah State 193.850, 25. Illinois 193.825.

AND MORE RANKINGS

Utah's best event scores all rank in the top two in the nation this week. The Utes are tied for first on bars (49.35) and are second on vault (49.45), beam (49.275) and floor (49.600). Ute senior All-American Annabeth Eberle and freshman Ashley Postell are tied for the top all-around score with a 39.625, while sophomore All-American Nicolle Ford ranks fifth (39.55). Sophomore Rachel Tidd is ranked No. 2 on both vault (9.95) and bars (9.95). Other high Ute rankings include: Ford tied for No. 2 on beam (9.95) and 10th on bars (9.875); Eberle tied for fourth on floor (9.95) and eighth on bars (9.90) and vault (9.90); Postell tied for fourth on vault (9.925), beam (9.925) and floor (9.95).

UTE NOTES

Had the rankings gone to total season average this week, Utah would still be No. 1 with a 196.675 average, but No. 2 UCLA (195.90) would have dropped behind No. 3 Michigan (195.962) ... Freshman sensation Ashley Postell is expected to return to the all-around lineup this Friday at Oregon State after competing on just one event (vault) last week due to illness ... Doubtful to compete and considered "week to week" is sophomore Rachel Tidd (back) ... In Tidd's absence, sophomore Kristen Riffanacht is expected to go all-around for the second time in two weeks and in her career ... Also expected to return from illness is Ute beam lead-off Natalie Nicoloff ... Freshman Jessica Duke (Sandy, Utah) did well in her collegiate debut on Jan. 14. Duke scored a 9.725 to count on the bars and received a 9.775 in exhibition on vault ... Utah's win leaders (including ties) this season: Nicolle Ford (4), Postell (3), Annabeth Eberle (2) and Tidd (2) ... Eberle now has 48 career victories.